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2.3 Biological Characteristics
Cattle
The anatomy of cows’ mouths and teeth don’t allow them to get closer
than two inches to the soil. When eating a plant, they place it between
their upper palate and lower jaw, pulling with their tongue to rip it from
its roots. Cows tend to graze for no more than eight hours a day, and
they tend to avoid grazing near their own dung. The pulling motion of
their bites and their heavier bodies can have negative impacts on plant
communities and soil structure, especially under wet soil conditions.
It is important to optimize grazing, which we will discuss further in the
grazing management section on page 109.
Sheep
The structure of sheeps’ mouths allows them to bite much
closer to the ground than cattle, and they can be more
selective about what they eat. Because sheep can take much
more of the plant, they can damage plant communities quite
severely. But they are much lighter than cattle and horses, so
they are less likely to cause soil compaction.
Horses
Horses have teeth structured for biting and are able
to nimbly cut forage close to the ground, rather than
rip it as cattle do. They are large, heavy animals, and
therefore like cattle they have negative impacts on
soil structure. And like sheep, their grazing can have
negative impacts on plant communities.
Goats
Goats are similar to sheep but have more mobile
lips and tongues, which allows them to be even
more selective when grabbing forage. They prefer
woodier plants and new leaves on shrubs, which
can be detrimental to shrub success.