Animal Unit Equivalent (AUE) and Daily Forage Need of Baloochi Sheep while Grazing on Lowland Rangelands in Kerman Province

Information on animal daily forage needs is essential for an estimation of rangeland grazing capacity. Accordingly, weight and Animal Unit Equivalent (AUE) for each individual class of animal should be determined. Live weights of Baloochi sheep as based on average live weights of 3 and 4 year old ewes were determined. Five herds of Baloochi breed sheep were selected for the task. In each herd, 15 heads of three year old ewes, 15 four year old ones, 5 heads of three year old rams, 5 four year old ones, 15 heads of three and 15 six month old lambs selected. They were weighted three times namely: once at the beginning of the experiment, once at the end of the grazing season on lowland rangelands, and the third time after being grazed on crop residue of either fields or orchards. Weights of Baloochi sheep (i.e. three and four year old ewes), ram, three and six month old lambs were 41±0.53, 89.18±1.78, 20.15±0.38 and 38.65±0.39 Kg. Accordingly, Animal Unit Equivalent figures (AUE) for ram, ewe, three and six month old lambs were 0.86, 1.54, 0.51 and 0.82 respectively. According to MAFF equation,1984; daily metabolism energy requirement for ewe, ram, three and six month old lambs of Baloochi sheep for maintenance and by considering the standings of rangelands as well as distances from watering points and plant density were obtained as 8.19, 14.66, 6.31 and 10.15 Mj (after being multiplied by 1.3). Dry matter requirement for ewe, ram, three and six month old lambs of Baloochi sheep as based on the forage quality at the vegetative stage was calculated as 1.1, 2, 0.8 and 1.4 Kg and based upon forage quality at flowering stage it was1.2, 2.2, 0.9 and 1.5 Kg. This indicates that the time of grazing affects the on daily forage needs and it is necessary to determine the animal requirement as based on forage quality.