USDA-ARS-Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA.
Animal. 2012 Aug;6(8):1339-49. doi: 10.1017/S175173111200016X.
Mixed-species stocking can foster sound landscape management while offering economic and ecological advantages compared with mono-species stocking. Producers contemplating a mixed-species enterprise should reflect on several considerations before implementing this animal management strategy. Factors applicable to a particular producer's landscape must be considered together with goals and economic constraints before implementing mixed-species stocking. A major consideration when using mixed-species stocking is how to deal with predation losses, especially among small ruminants. An approach being adopted in some commercial operations capitalizes on using innate animal behaviors to form cohesive groups of two or more livestock species that consistently remain together under free-ranging conditions. These groups are referred to as flerds. The mixing of a flock of sheep and/or goats with a herd of cattle into a flerd has been shown to protect sheep and goats from coyote predation, as well as offering other husbandry advantages. Some of the added advantages include more efficient conversion of forage into animal protein. Creation of flerds, their maintenance and advantages are discussed.
混养可以促进良好的景观管理，同时与单养相比具有经济和生态优势。考虑进行混养的生产者在实施这种动物管理策略之前，应该仔细考虑几个因素。在实施混养之前，必须将适用于特定生产者景观的因素与目标和经济限制结合起来考虑。在使用混养时，需要考虑的一个主要问题是如何处理捕食损失，特别是在小型反刍动物中。一些商业运营正在采用一种方法，利用动物的固有行为将两种或更多种牲畜形成紧密的群体，在自由放养的条件下始终保持在一起。这些群体被称为混群。将羊群和/或山羊与牛群混合成一个混群，已被证明可以保护绵羊和山羊免受郊狼的捕食，同时还具有其他养殖优势。一些额外的优势包括更有效地将饲料转化为动物蛋白。本文讨论了混群的创建、维持和优势。
