Table 5.

Effects of pre-grazing sward height and energy supplementation level on grazing behavior of Nellore steers grazing Marandu Palisadegrass (B. brizantha [Hochst. Ex A. Rich.] Stapf. cv. Marandu) during the rainy season

	Pre-grazing sward height, cm		Supplementation1, % BW			P-value
Item2	25	35	0	0.3	SEM	Sward height	Supplementation	Interaction
Grazing time, min/d	387	465	445	406	20.3	<0.001	0.02	0.63
Ruminating time, min/d	385	385	380	390	19.7	0.97	0.58	0.41
Rest time, min/d	608	531	554	585	18.3	<0.001	0.11	0.72
Bite rate, bite/min	34.2	22.7	28.2	28.8	3.28	<0.001	0.82	0.29
Feeding stations/min	5.0	4.1	4.6	4.6	0.35	0.01	0.92	0.98
Steps between feeding stations	1.3	1.6	1.5	1.3	0.11	0.01	0.24	0.22
Steps/min	6.5	6.6	6.9	6.2	0.49	0.92	0.29	0.34
Steps/day	2524	3009	2922	2611	216	0.09	0.28	0.63

¹Supplementation levels were 0% or 0.3% BW of ground corn on an as-fed basis.

²The experiment lasted 64 d and consisted of four experimental periods of 16 d each. Grazing behavior measurements took place on day 14 of each period. Four trained observers were assigned to visually determine grazing (eating plus searching), rumination, and resting time every 5 min for consecutive 24 h. The number of observations for each activity during a 24-h period was multiplied by 5 min to get the daily amount of time spent in that activity.