Mixed Grazing Between Bali Cattle and Kacang Goats on Native Pastures

Abstract

An experiment to study the carrying capacity of native pasture for continuous grazing of growing cattle and goats grazed concurrently was conducted in Gowa Sub Research Institute for Animal Production, South Sulawesi. Twenty four Bali steers (1.5 -2 years) were divided randomly into six groups where each group was kept continuously in a 4-ha paddock of native pasture (1 animal/ha). Into three of the paddocks, 15 male Kacang kids (4 - 6 months) were also grazed for 8 hours/day. During one year observation covering the rainy and dry seasons, pasture forage production in the paddocks fluctuated along with changing of rainfalls in the area. Daily forage dry matter production was in the range of 28.2 - 42.7 kg/ha, averaging 40.9 kg/ha and 29.2 kg/ha, respectively, for the rainy and dry season. Grazing managements (cattle alone or cattle with goats) did not affect (P>0.05) the average daily gain (ADG) of cattle, averaging 289 g and 64 g, respectively, for the rainy and dry season. The ADG of goats were 52 g in the rainy season and 17 g in the dry season. It is concluded that carrying capacity of native pasture for continuous grazing of growing cattle with stocking rate of 1 animal/ha may be increased with addition of goats at 3.75 head/ha. To maintain the optimum growth of the animals, feed supplementation is suggested in the dry season.