Analysis of Diurnal Feeding Pattern of Sheep Fed Various Feeds in Free Access

Seven sheep were allotted to one of following feeds - long hay, chopped hay, hay cube and concentrate mixture - and allowed to free access to the manger. From the records of the feeding behaviour, relations between diurnal eating patterns and types of feed were analyzed. The sheep showed usually 11 eating periods a day, 6 of them lasted more than 30min when the roughages were given. The longest eating period of each sheep fed roughages never exceeded 150min and was approximately 80min on the average. The length of the longest suspension period of eating during the daytime (8AM to 8PM) on the average was about 100min and did not differ significantly between the roughages and concentrate mixture. After 101 to 201min from the time of daily offer of fresh feed, each sheep showed a resting period of longer than 30min (primary satiety state, PSS). They ate only less than 10% of daily feed intake during the time from midnight to the next morning viz. in the phase of post final satiety (FSS) which was defined as the last of eating periods of the day each lasted more than 30min. The ranges of eating periods on the roughages were 41-55 min before the PSS, 27-35min between PSS and FSS, and 9 to 19min after FSS. The amounts of feed consumed in one eating period before the PSS was more than twice as much as that after the PSS. The cumulative feed intake during the daytime lay near the estimated satiety level. Between PSS and FSS sheep were likely to start eating when they had space in the rumen to be filled up by eating roughages for about 35min. It is suggested that the factors in common might terminate each eating period including that proceeds FSS.