Weed species preferences by katjang goats in oil palm plantation
Goats possess characteristics including versatility in grazing adverse plant species and the ability to survive under different foraging condition which put them apart from other livestock animals. Three female Katjang were used pastured under the plantation that contain variety of weed species....
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| Format: | Project Paper Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/91494/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/91494/1/FP%202017%2098%20-IR.pdf |
| Summary: | Goats possess characteristics including versatility in grazing adverse plant species and the
ability to survive under different foraging condition which put them apart from other
livestock animals. Three female Katjang were used pastured under the plantation that
contain variety of weed species. The objective is to establish the weed species preferences
by goats in oil palm plantation. Specifically, the weeds preferences were determined by the
reference of individual animal and grazing day. The weight gain of the goats were also
recorded every week to show the progress of the goats. Grazing behavioral data that
included number of bites and time spend on each weed species were recorded using the
direct observation method and the measurements were performed every day for 28 days of
period. According to the result, broadleaved weeds and grasses were the most selected by
the goats. In the final analysis, Asystasia intrusa was the most preferred weeds species and
shows that it was the most important part of the diet of goats in such ecosystem. In contrary,
Ishaemum musticum was the last preferred based on the top 5 rankings could be largely
explained by the fact that goats are naturally browsers. |
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