PREFERENCE OF SHEEP FOR FOODS VARYING IN FLAVORS AND NUTRIENTS

Our objective was to better understand the importance of flavor and nu trients in food preferences of lambs. Three foods differing in flavor and nutritional quality were created by grinding and mixing grape poma ce, barley, alfalfa pellets, and soybean meal in different proportions : food 1 (2.21 Mcal/kg DE, 8.1% DP), food 2 (2.42 Mcal/kg DE, 11.0% DP ), and food 3 (2.68 Mcal/kg DE, 13.8% DP). Intake of each food, offere d singly and together, was assessed when foods 2 and 3 were flavored w ith 1% onion or 1% oregano. Lambs (n = 24) preferred food 3 > 2 > 1, r egardless of flavor (P < .05), and they continued to prefer food 3 > 2 > 1, even when they received the toxin LiCl after eating one of the t hree foods (P < .05). When offered a choice, lambs always ate substant ial amounts of all three foods, even though they might have been expec ted to eat food 3 exclusively. We hypothesize selection of a varied di et resulted from a decrease in preference for food just eaten as a res ult of sensory input (taste, odor, texture, i.e., a food's flavor) and postingestive feedback (effects of nutrients and toxins on chemo-, os mo-, and mechano-receptors) unique to each food. Thus, we submit that offering different foods of similar nutritional value, offering foods of different nutritional value, and offering the same food in differen t flavors are all means of enhancing food preference and intake.