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

本文研究了食物印迹技术是否应用于危害最大的杂草之一--阔叶酸模(Rumex obtusifolius L.)控制放牧草皮，使动物可以有效地脱叶牧草。当给1个月大的婴儿提供切碎的饲料一个月时，其摄入量波动有很大的个体差异，表明食物印记没有完成。经历了食物印记的七个月大的山羊显示出对杂草的选择性较低，即使给动物提供了生长在0.3升盆栽中的植物，它们的饮食偏好也没有改变。因此，山羊体内的食物印迹不会导致杂草的防除。

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.