The effect of vegetation period on the quality of pasture and performance of grazing Tujhin sheep and lambs.

This study was carried out in order to examine the effect of vegetation period on the qualilty of pasture and fattening performance of grazing (May 22 to October 9) Tujhin sheep and lambs reared in Kars region. Animals were weighed and forage samples were taken from pasture fortnightly and analysed for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF) and ether extract (EE). Chemical composition of pasture samples for DM, OM, CP, CF and EE were determined as 28.31%, 91.14%, 19.35%, 28.92% and 3.20% at the beginning of the study and 74.96%, 92.08%, 3.86%, 43.91% and 1.83% of the end of study, respectively. Daily and total live weight gains through the pasture season were determined for male and female lambs as 181.6 g/day, 164.9 g/day and 25.47, 23.10 kg respectively (P>0.05). Ewes gained 35 g/day daily live weight on average and 4.9 kg total live weight. In conclusion, it was determined that the pasture may meet greatly the nutritional requirements of the sheep and lambs when its green seasons (May 22 to July 31) and the CP content decreased and the DM and CF contents of forage by increasing maturity.