The behavior of sheep and goats co-grazing on pasture with different types of vegetation in the karst region

The Slovenian karst region and similar types of land are difficult to cultivate and often exposed to the process of being abandoned and overgrown with shrubs, trees, and brushwood. Co-grazing in a mixed group may be a way to optimize the management of sheep and goat flocks in such areas. To obtain more knowledge of the natural behavior of small ruminants, the experi- ment was designed on pasture in the mountain karst region. The experimental area was divided in 6 paddocks, of which 3 paddocks were covered with grass, herbs, and legumes (i.e., grassy paddock (GP)). In the other 3 pad- docks the area was additionally overgrown with hazel, beech trees, and bushes (i.e., woody paddock (WP)). In a mixed flock of 40 Slovenian local sheep breed (Istrian Pramenka) and 10 crossbreed goats (Saanen × Alpine goat), 10 animals per species were focally observed dur- ing daylight (0500-2100 h). The natural behavior was scored on 12 d, 2 consecutive days in each of the pad- docks. Animals were rotated between 6 paddocks accord- ing to the balanced schedule. They stayed at each pad- dock for 5 or 6 d. Observations started on the third day after moving the animals into a specific paddock, follow- ing 2 d of adaptation. The results indicated that botani- cally diverse paddock together with climate conditions affected the behavior. Goats were grazing more (P < 0.001) whereas sheep less in the WP (P = 0.05). In sheep, drinking and salt consumption were higher (both P < 0.001) in the WP, suggesting that salt triggered additional water consumption. The WP enabled conditions where more comfort behavior, that is, autogrooming (both spe- cies P < 0.001) and object grooming (both species P < 0.001), was performed. On the second day of observa- tion, animals grazed more compared to the first day (both species P < 0.001), most likely due to lower forage avail- ability. Goats drank (P < 0.001) and consumed more salt on the second day (P < 0.001). With higher temperature sheep and goats grazed less (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively) and goats drank more (P < 0.05). Sheep showed more while goats less autogrooming when tem- perature was lower (both P < 0.001). More autogrooming was shown on the second day of observation but only in goats (P < 0.001). The performed behavior of co-grazing sheep and goats suggests different foraging strategies and adaptation between the species, which may be taken into account for management decisions under specific envi- ronmental conditions in the mountain karst region.