Performance of hereford and Santa Gertrudis cattle on arid range in southwestern United States

TitlePerformance of hereford and Santa Gertrudis cattle on arid range in southwestern United States
Publication TypeConference Proceedings
Year of Publication1965
AuthorsHerbel C.H., Nelson A.B.
Conference NameAustralian Arid-Zone Research Conference
PaginationF-19--F-20
Date Published1965
Keywordsarid range, cattle, hereford, Santa Gertrudis, southwestern United States
AbstractThe performance of Hereford and Santa Gertrudis cattle on the Jornada Experimental Range was studied for 3 years. The test herd consisted of 15 cows of each breed stocked separately on two pastures of about the same shape. They were rotated between these two pastures annually. The activities of one Hereford cow and one Santa Gertrudis cow were noted for a 24-hr period every 4 weeks during the 3-yr period. A cow from each breed was observed during the daylight hours each 28-day period for the first 17 months. Generally, Herefords spent more time grazing (42.9% v. 37.2%), standing-ruminating (8.6% v. 6.8%), and rubbing (1.1 times per day v. 0.1 times), while the Santa Gertrudis spent more time walking (12.1% v. 6.6%). They spent about the same time ruminating-lying (23.0%), standing-idle (7.5%), lying-idle (10.1%), nursing (1 .6%), watering (1.2 times), salting (0.3 times), defecating (6.5 times), and urinating (6.2 times). At the same time as the activities were being observed, the location within a pasture of the cow while grazing was noted. Utilization checks of perennial grasses in various zones (half-mile intervals from water) within a pasture were taken at periodic intervals. These data indicate that there was essentially no difference in the grazing distribution patterns in these pastures in each of which it was 3½ miles from water to the opposite side of the pasture.
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