Comportamento ingestivo de novilhos de corte em pastagem de aveia preta e azevém com níveis distintos de folhas verdes

the objective of this trial was to evaluate how two levels of green leaves biomass, represented by 350 and 600kg ha-1 of green leaves dry matter (gldm) affected beef steers behaviour and its bite rate. evaluations of ingestive behaviour were performed with focal animals observed visually on two periods of 24 hours, with beginning and end at 01 pm, during pasture growth season, at 08/16-17 and 09/24-25/2002. three trained observers were used for each turn of six hours, one for each two contiguous paddocks (where three focal animals grazed). at 10 minutes intervals, grazing time, rumination activities and rest were registered and estimated the bite rate, as the number of apprehension bites per minute. the lower dry matter percentage existing in the pasture during the first evaluation was responsible for the higher grazing time, when comparing the periods. in the first evaluation, the activity complementary to grazing was rumination and there was not differences for rest time. the lower biomass treatment induced the steers to take more bites as a way of optimizing forage consumption.