The benefits of pasture-based systems on the fatty acid composition of sheep meat appear to be achievable despite variability in the quality of the pastures. Lambs fed high levels of temperate pastures have an excess of N-ammonia derived from protein degradation. Furthermore, animal performance is highly variable depending on the quality of the pasture at the time of grazing, and high animal performance in these systems appears to be linked to the use of high-quality pastures with high availability, and is possibly added to by the inclusion of concentrates that allow increasing energy intake and a better use of the N in the pasture. The combination of high-quality pastures and total mixed ration offers a good alternative to the inclusion of concentrates in the diet, improving the use of N, and avoiding acidosis problems. However, information to determine the effect of a number of nutritional strategies on meat quality, and the minimum level of pasture intake necessary to achieve the benefits of pastoral systems is still lacking.

The effect of supplementing high-quality fresh forage, mainly based on alfalfa, to growing lambs fed with decreasing levels of total mixed ration (TMR) was studied on intake, digestion and ruminal environment. In total, 24 catheterized lambs (25.2±3.67 kg) housed in individual metabolism cages were assigned to one of four treatment diets: ‘TMR100’: TMR offered ad libitum; ‘TMR75’ and ‘TMR50’: TMR at a level of 0.75 and 0.50 of potential intake, respectively, complemented with fresh forage without restriction; ‘TMR0’: only fresh forage ad libitum. The feeding behavior, nutrient intake and digestibility, kinetics of passage and rumen environment were evaluated. As the level of TMR in the diet decreased, lambs increased the forage intake and spent more time eating and ruminating, less time resting and demonstrated a higher rate of intake. Those changes resulted in a higher nutrient intake of dry matter, organic matter, nitrogen, NDF and ADF, but a slightly lower organic matter digestibility, while no differences were detected in the output rate of particles. As a consequence, with the decrease of TMR and increase of forage intake, the ingested energy increased. Higher ruminal pH and NH3–N concentrations were observed for lower levels of TMR in the diet. The total volatile fatty acids, acetate and propionate concentrations presented a quadratic response. Total volatile fatty acids and acetate concentrations were higher and propionate concentration was lower in lambs consuming mixed diets (TMR50 and TMR75). We concluded that the inclusion of high-quality fresh forage in a combined diet with TMR in lambs had positive effects on nutrient intake without negative consequences on digestion and rumen environment.