[Eating and ruminating behavior of sheep. 2. Experiments in pregnant and lactating ewes fed with a straw-concentrate mixture].

Fertility oriented ewes in the late stage of gestation and during the lactation period received 19 feeding regimes on the basis of straw-concentrate mixtures, which essentially differed in the feedstuff structure. The ewes fed ad libitum on average used between 5 and 6 hours per day feed intake in the 86 measuring periods. The average daily ruminating time ranged from 398 to 502 minutes. An increasing straw content resulted in significantly longer ruminating periods and a higher number of masticatory movements, additional quotas of long straw had non effect. But even the most unfavourable feeding variants (straw-concentrate mixtures with 40% straw meal treated with NaOH) elicited 21 100 ruminating masticatory movements in 5 hours of ruminating. There were no significant differences between the absolute consumption and ruminating activities in the late stage of gestation and the lactation period; with reference to feed and crude fibre intake the ruminating expenditure in the late stage of gestation was always significantly higher. Rations with a low structural effect resulted in a more unbalanced distribution of consumption and ruminating activities in the course of the day than well structured rations.