Articles by Angela Lovell
How foraging animals, if given a choice, select their diets is a question of some debate in research circles. There are basically two main trains of thought, one coming more from a psychology discipline and the other from an animal science and nutrition standpoint.
There was a time when we understood animal behaviour because we lived in closer proximity to our livestock and we learned how to provide for their needs from our daily observations of them. That kind of hands-on husbandry fosters a knowledge and experience that modern agriculture has all but eliminated, but from which it could benefit. Contented, stress free animals are far more productive and, if paid the attention they deserve, will give all the clues needed to keep them that way, at a minimal dollar cost and with less intensive management.
