Determination of Metabolizable Energy Requirement , Quality and Daily Requirement of Forage in Maintenance condition for Grazing Sheep in Protected area of Estarkolak and Malek Cheshmeh (Study: Lar National Park)

This study, was conducted in one of the rangeland of Lar National Park, Estarkolak and Malek Cheshmeh area (3176 hectares) to estimate the amount of metabolizable energy and daily requirement of animal. In this research, to determine the weight of various classes of Zandi sheep grazing in the Lar National Park rangelands of Estarkolak and Malek Cheshmeh region, three prevalent flocks of Zandi race were selected randomly and from each flock, 60 heads of animals including 20 heads of ewe ageing 3 years old, 20 heads of ewe aging 4 years old, 5 heads of ram aging 3 years old, 5 heads of ram aging 4 years old and 10 heads of lamb aging 3 months were signed and selected in two phases, one at the beginning of the season and the other at the end of season. In the study area, first a topographic map with a scale of 1: 25000 was prepared and the location of the plots was randomly determined on the map and then the rangeland. Inside each plot, all grazable animal plants were identified and according to the size and height, one centimeter of soil surface was harvested. The forage species grazed by sheep at the flowering stage were identified and collected in this rangeland (41 plant species). Having utilized the mean weight of ewes aging 3 and 4 years, the weight of the sheep glazing in the studied region was estimated to be equal to 48.54 ±2.44 kg. The forage species grazed by sheep at the flowering stage were identified and collected in this rangeland. The mean percentage of CP, ADF, DMD and the amount of ME in every kg of dry forage were determined 12.8, 37.54, 57.74 and 7.81 mega joule, respectively. Metabolizable energy and animal daily requirement based on dry matter in maintenance condition for animal unit equivalent of this rangeland were estimated 10.29 mega joule and 1.31 kg respectively. Using the results of this study, new grazing capacity can be determined for this rangeland.