Food imprinting in goats and its potential application to weed control on grazed sward

本文研究了在放牧草地上是否应用食物印记来防治最有害的杂草之一——阔叶草（Rumex obtusifolius L.），以使山羊有效地对牧草进行落叶处理。当1月龄幼儿连续一个月食用切碎的草料时，其摄取量波动存在较大的个体差异，说明食物印记尚未完成。经历过食物印记的7个月大的山羊对杂草的选择性更低，即使给它们提供0.3升花盆里生长的植物，它们的饮食偏好也没有改变。因此，山羊的食物印记不能起到控制杂草的作用。

We studied whether or not food imprinting in goats was applied to one of the most harmful weed, i. e. broadleaf dock(Rumex obtusifolius L.) control on grazed sward so that the animals could defoliate the forage efficiently. When 1-month-old kids were offered the chopped forage for a month, there was a great individual variation in its intake fluctuation, indicating that food imprinting was not completed. Seven-month-old goats that had experienced food imprinting revealed less selective grazing for the weed, and dietary preference was not modified even if the animals had been offered the plants growing in 0.3-liter pots. Therefore, it was suggested that food imprinting in goats could not lead to weed control.