Research Results - (PDF, 101 mb) - USAID

Peru consumed mainly tall grasses in the wet
season and short grasses in the dry season.
Grass consumption was highest during the
driest months. Forbs in the diet increased in the
early wet season. Alpacas were noted as being
highly adaptable grazers, responding not only
to season but to the kind and mixture of plant
species available,
Studies of the dietary composition of
llamas, alpacas, and sheep on pastures of differing
quality showed that sheep preferred legumes.
Lower selectivity for legumes by South
America camelids may explain why bloat has
not been reported. On range lands llamas
selected the tall coarse bunch grasses and they
ate more stems and less leaves than alpacas and
sheep. In a complementary grazing system,
llamas and sheep offer the most efficient way for
harvesting available forage. South American
camelids are physiologically adapted to high
altitudes and the sparse fibrous vegetation of
the Altiplano.
Greater digestion capability was observed
in South American camelids than in
sheep when fed Avena sativa (oat straw) and
Chenopodiumquinona used as crop residues. Oat
straw treated with ammonia increased the
consumption by all three animal species when
compared with untreated oat straw.
Field work ceased and publications are
pending on projects on digestion of tree and
shrub foliage by goats and diet quality and
intake by goats on the North Coast rangelands.
Herded Corriedale sheep grazing native range
in southern Peru shifted from shortgrass in the
dry season, to grasslike plants in the early rainy
season and to tall grasses in the late rainy
season. Crude protein decreased with increased
maturity of the vegetation and was highly
correlated to digestible energy.
A three-year study with sheep in the
central Andes using native and improved
pasture showed that ewes grazing the cultivated
pasture for seven weeks prior to breeding had a
higher percentage of lambs born. Ewes grazing
improved pasture during the last trimester of
gestation and early lactation produced lambs
118
that had higher birth weights, weaning weights,
and average daily gain than did lambs on other
treatments.
Adult alpacas raised on range and
monitored for one year had body weights and
greasy fleece weights similar to those adults
given partial or total access to cultivated pastures.
Greasy fleece weights were 20 to 40%
greater under good range than the Andean
averages and 50 to 100% greater than production
systems with low levels of technological
inputs. Lambs born to female alpaca that
grazed cultivated pastures were weaned three
months earlier, and were bred one year earlier
than females on native ranges.
Research Results
1. Complimentary grazing and
comparative nutrition of llama, alpaca,
and sheep.
Objective
To determine forage partioning among
free-grazing ruminants and their respective
nutritional demands for proper management.
Problem Statement and Approach
Competitive relationships among small
Copetite impatonhirnmon s
ruminants and the impact on their nutrition has
not been adequately investigated in the Altiplano.
Data on diets, nutrients consumed, and
digestive kinetics of mixed-species grazing
groups was collected.
Justification
Information on common-use grazing is
scant. Proper mixes of the most important small
ruminants must be determined.
Project Progress
Several trials of comparative in vivo
digestibility between alpacas and sheep, and
llamas and sheep, have been reported. Only one