ANR Publication 8524 | July 2015 http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu ckr li UNDERSTANDING WORKING RANGELANDS Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Horses: What’s the Difference for Working Rangelands? : rrunaway/F Photo INTRODUCTION omestic livestock commonly raised in California include STEPHANIE LARSON, University of California Cooperative Extension Dcattle (bovines), sheep (ovines), goats (caprines), and County Director and Livestock horses (equines). Cattle, sheep, and goats can be used for Range Management Advisor, the production of meat or dairy products, depending on Sonoma County; SHEILA BARRY, their breed and management. Horses are kept primarily for University of California Cooperative recreation and for use in ranch work. Each livestock species has Extension County Director and Livestock Range Management dissimilar feed and husbandry needs, interacts with humans Advisor, San Francisco Bay Area; differently, and has varying effects on the land and vegetation. and LISA BUSH, Rangeland Livestock affect land and vegetation in several interrelated ways, Consultant. including removal of leaves, stems, and other plant parts; removal or redistribution of nutrients; and mechanical impacts on soil and plants through trampling (Vallentine 1990). All of these factors vary by animal species, depending on dietary preference, digestive system, mouth anatomy, and Working rangelands are public or privately owned open space lands that are managed with livestock grazing and rancher stewardship. Photo: Josh Mazgelis/Flickr Their management contributes to the production of a variety of ecosystem services, including food, clean water, weed control, wildlife habitat, fire fuel reduction, carbon sequestration, pollination, aesthetic views, cultural heritage, recreational and educational opportunities, and open space conservation. ANR Publication 8524 | UNDERSTANDING WORKING RANGELANDS – Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Horses: What’s the Difference for Working Rangelands | July 2015 | 2 animal size and weight. Livestock behaviors such as herding ability, SPECIES DIFFERENCES use of terrain, and willingness to travel also vary between species, Dietary Preferences and Digestive Systems breeds, and individual herds. These behaviors can affect land and Livestock species are described as grazers, browsers, or intermediate vegetation. Within a species of livestock, certain breeds may have feeders according to the types of plants they eat (Hoffman 1989). unique attributes that make them especially suitable for grazing a Grazers, including cattle and horses, eat mostly herbaceous plants particular site. Examples include Babydoll Southdown sheep, which such as grasses and forbs (broadleaf weeds) and have a digestive are so short in stature they cannot eat grapevines, and Scottish system that can handle large quantities of low-quality forage. Highland cattle, a small breed of cattle adapted to high rainfall and Browsers, such as goats, can select the highest-quality leaves and strong winds. While rare or unusual breeds may fill a specific niche, stems from woody plants such as shrubs and trees. Intermediate they may not be very practical. Ranchers with unusual breeds can feeders, such as sheep, graze selectively but can consume both experience difficulty in marketing livestock and livestock products herbaceous and woody vegetation. These categories are not absolute, that do not conform to the standard sizes of conventional breeds. as diet is also driven in part by the availability of different types of Also, characteristics attributed to some breeds may not be present in vegetation, nutritional needs, experiences, and inherited and learned some individuals. Practical considerations that may determine the behaviors, which can affect where and what a given animal eats. Table species and/or breed of livestock best suited for grazing a particular 1 shows the dietary preferences of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses. site include infrastructure requirements, local availability, and potential for predation. Because of these differences in dietary preference, livestock species can have a significant impact on achieving conservation On California’s rangelands, grazing is typically dominated by objectives, especially those related to vegetation management. For a single species, most often beef cattle; however, some ranchers may example, controlling broadleaf weedy plants may best be achieved graze multiple species. Tradition, rancher experience and knowledge, using sheep or goats. Alternatively, controlling annual grass to fewer management requirements, available infrastructure, grass- enhance native forbs, including wildflowers, may be best achieved by dominated rangelands, and low risk for predation are reasons why cattle grazing, especially since sheep and goats may prefer forbs over grazing cattle dominate California’s working rangelands. grasses. ANR Publication 8524 | UNDERSTANDING WORKING RANGELANDS – Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Horses: What’s the Difference for Working Rangelands | July 2015 | 3 Differences in how much and what is consumed by each animal may be poisonous. Although livestock digestive systems vary by species, species depend on each species’ digestive system, the composition all depend on fermentation, which is driven by microbes that live in the of rumen microbes, forage quality, and the animals’ ability to handle animals’ rumen or cecum. Cattle, sheep, and goats are ruminants, or tannins and other secondary compounds. These compounds can foregut fermenters; horses are pseudoruminants, or hindgut fermenters, reduce plant palatability by causing negative digestive impacts and and have a cecum (see below). Cattle, and to a lesser extent sheep, have large rumens that allow them to consume and digest fibrous, low- Table 1. Dietary preferences, digestive systems, mouth parts, and adaptations for quality forage. Goats, on the other hand, are adapted to consuming grazing and browsing of selected livestock species woody plants. Their mouth structure allows them to select the high- Digestive Mouth parts and adaptations for grazing quality parts of woody plants, and they can also effectively detoxify Species Dietary preferences system or browsing secondary compounds, such as tannins and terpenes. cattle Grazers. Prefer grass to a ruminant Large muzzle and relatively immobile upper Ruminants greater extent than do sheep lip limits their ability to select among plants Cattle, sheep and goats have a four-chambered stomach consisting or goats. Some seasonal use and plant parts. Large rumen allows them to of the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum (fig. 1). The of forbs and woody plants, consume and digest low-quality forage. Use but cannot thrive on strictly mobile tongue to grasp taller grass clumps rumen, the first chamber of the stomach, comes before the gut. When woody plants. Coarse and then pull them off, usually not closer than 2 ruminants eat, they ingest large amounts of vegetation that is initially dried tall grass is best grazed inches from ground unless forced to do so to softened and broken down in the rumen by microbes, mostly bacteria. by cattle. obtain forage. Back molars shred vegetation into small, digestible pieces. They regurgitate the semidigested plant matter, chew (called “chewing the cud”), and swallow it again. This fermentation and regurgitation sheep Intermediate feeders. Readily ruminant Cleft upper lip permits close grazing. Small process efficiently extracts nutrients such as cellulose from plant graze forbs but also graze mouthparts and narrow muzzle permit them materials. grass and browse woody to be more selective of plant species and plants. plant parts and allow them to graze prostrate plants. Large rumen relative to body mass allows them to utilize low-quality forage. Will Rumen Omasum consume a grass-dominated diet, especially if grasses are succulent, but consume more forbs when forbs are available. goats Browser to intermediate ruminant Narrow muzzle, strong mouth, mobile upper Small feeders. Readily graze forbs, lips and prehensile tongue are designed for Intestine Mouth but also graze large amounts eating tiny leaves off of shrubs, avoiding of woody plants and grass; spines, and chewing woody plants. Large Esophagus highly versatile. liver relative to body weight and special saliva enables them to more effectively process plants that contain secondary Abomasum compounds like tannins. Reticulum horses Grazers: Mostly graze grass, pseudo- Upper and lower incisors allow them to bite with some grazing on forbs ruminant close to the ground; they crop grass with and browsing on woody (Cecum) incisors (foreteeth) and grind with back plants. teeth. Source: Adapted from Vallentine 1990, Launchbaugh 2006, Krysl et al. 1984, and Ménard et al. 2002. Figure 1. Digestive system of a ruminant. ANR Publication 8524 | UNDERSTANDING WORKING RANGELANDS – Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Horses: What’s the Difference for Working Rangelands | July 2015 | 4 Psuedoruminants scientists have determined that stock density and livestock activity Horses, rabbits, and certain other herbivores are classified as hindgut may have greater trampling affect than an animal’s weight. Higher fermenters. They have a fermentation chamber called a cecum just stock densities (more animals per unit of land at any given time) and before their large intestines. The cecum performs the same function more-active livestock increase trampling impacts (Betteridge et al. as the rumen does in ruminants, although its position is after the 1999; Mandema et al. 2013; Nolte et al. 2015). For