Abstract
The object of this experiment was to investigate the food habits of Korean native goats fed with various roughage sources. The experimental trials were conducted at Unbong Animal Genetic Resources Station in 2008. The experimental roughages include five sources and 25 species in all; grasses and legumes: 5 species (mixed grasses, orchardgrass, tall fescue, alfalfa, white clover), native grasses and weeds: 5 species (mixed native grasses, Miscanthus sinensis Anderss, Arundinella hirta (Thunb.) Tanaka, Barnyard grass, short awn, forage crops and straw: 5 species (barley + hairy vetch, wheat + hairy vetch, rye silage, barley silage, baled rice straw), browse and fallen leaves: 5 species (Mixed browse, Oriental white oak, Quercus serrta Thunb., Oriental cherry fallen leaves, Japanese chestnut fallen leaves), and imported hay and straw: 5 species(timothy hay, tall fescue straw, annual ryegrass straw, klinegrass hay, alfalfa hay). Ten Korean native goats were selected which had nearly the same body weight (average $24{\pm}2.8$ kg). The chemical composition and dry matter digestibility of each roughage source and species were significantly different at the sampling area, plant species, growth stages and cutting period (p<0.05). Among all the 25 species of roughages, the favorite intake species order by Korean native goat was observed like this: Quercus aliena, Querancas serrta Thunb and Mixed browse, which was a lower intake compared to other domestic herbivores. The Korean native goats ate more roughages which had low fibrous contents, but high dry matter digestibility. The Korean native goats ate more roughages which had low fibrous contents, but high dry matter digestibility. On the other hand, compared to each roughage source, total intake amount by Korean native goats was showed as browse and fallen leaves (33.1%) among trials roughage sources. Based on these results, the food habit of Korean native goats seems to be closer to the browser.
