The digestibility of herbage selected by oesophageally fistulated cows, steer calves and wether sheep when strip-grazing together

The digestibility of herbage selected by dairy cows, milk-fed calves, weaned calves and wether sheep was examined on four occasions each day as they strip-grazed together a daily allocation of herbage. The average quality of the material selected by each group was similar. Organic matter digestibility of the herbage selected declined from 0·274 to 0·223 as the average height of the sward fell from 16 to 6 cm; this decline was slightly more rapid for the cows than for the other stock. A similar trend was also evident in samples cut from the sward to simulate the horizon removed prior to each sampling time.