Abstract: 【Objective】It is significantly important to maintain grassland ecosystem balance by reasonable grazing method. The study of the effects of rotational grazing on grazing characteristics, weight and reproductive performance of Tan sheep could provide a basis for grassland grazing management.【Method】The desert steppe in Ningxia was used as the research object, and under the stocking rate of 0.75·hm^-2, 4 treatments was designed which were continuous grazing (CG), two-area rotational grazing (TG), four-area rotational grazing (FG) and six-area rotational grazing (SG). The feeding habits, intake amount and nutrient intake of Tan sheep were studied by using all-day observation method, difference method and conventional nutrient determination method, respectively. Then the weight of tan sheep at the end of each rotational period was observed and the reproductive performance during grazing period was counted.【Result】The results are as follows: All the days of grazing, Tan sheep feeding time occupied the main part, the proportion of feeding time was 64% or more. With the increase of area number in rotational grazing, the ingestion time, standing and wandering time of Tan Sheep reduced（P＜0.05）, the rumination and resting time increased correspondingly（P＜0.05）. The differences of individual behavior had a greater impact on excretion, fighting, itching, eating foreign body and other acts , the proportion of time was less than 1.4%. The pasturing amount of four-area rotational grazing and six-area rotational grazing showed no significant differences and were both higher than the continuous grazing and two-area rotational grazing significantly, continuous grazing intake was the lowest among them（P＜0.05）. The grassland feeding rate showed a trend of CG＞TG＞FG＞SG , among them, the continuous grazing was 39.06%, and the six-area rotational grazing was 27.9%. The intake rate declined with the increase of rotational grazing area number; there was hardly significant difference in Tan sheep daily intake among three kinds of rotational grazing patterns（P＞0.05）, the continuous grazing was the last（P＜0.05）. The contents of crude protein, crude fat and phosphorus in grass taken by Tan sheep were higher than those in grass group, and crude ash and nitrogen-free extract were close, but crude fiber and calcium were lower. With the increase of area numbers in rotational grazing, the crude protein content of feeding forage had a downward trend, the crude fiber showed an opposite trend, but the total intakes of dry matter, crude protein and phosphorus were increased. The nutrient intakes of all the treatments were higher than that of NRC sheep feeding standards in the United States, which indicated that Tan sheep did not need supplementary feeding after grazing in the warm season. During grazing, the body weight and average daily gain of Tan sheep in continuous grazing area was lower than the other three areas which had hardly significant differences among them. The reproductive performance of Tan Sheep was not significantly affected by the differences of grazing patters. The reproductive performance of each treatment was similar, such as lambing rate, lamb average birth weight and so on, which indicated that the grazing method had little effect on the reproductive performance of Tan sheep at an appropriate stocking rate.【Conclusion】Rotational grazing patterns had an impact on the feeding characteristics and production performance of Tan sheep. Compared with the continuous grazing, with the increase of area number in rotational grazing, the pasture intake rate, feeding time and the intake of protein content were decreased, but the total amount of daily intake, dry matter, crude protein and other nutrients were increased. Rotational grazing did not improve the reproductive performance of Tan sheep, but more conducive to Tan sheep weight gain. The two-area rotational grazing is the best pattern for Tan sheep farming at warm season in Ningxia desert steppe if take consideration of the feeding characteristics, production performance of Tan sheep and convenience of production management.

Key words: Grazing characteristics, weight and reproductive performance, Tan sheep, rotational grazing ways, desert steppe