AbstractA study is reported on the voluntary intake and digestibility by sheep of five lines ofCenchrus ciliariswhen grown as swards and cut at six different stages of growth. Previous studies withC. ciliarisgrown in small rows had shown large differences between these lines in grazing preference by cattle. The ranking order for preference wasline31>10 = 23>30 = 36.When offered singly to sheep in pens the five lines could be divided into three groups according to their voluntary intakes. Lines 10 and 30 had the highest mean daily intakes of 56·1 and 57·6 g (kg W)‐0·75compared with lines 23 and 36 with low mean intakes of 48·5 and 48·6 g (kg W)‐0·75. Line 31 was intermediate with a mean intake of 543 g (kg W)‐0·.Mean dry matter digestibility of the five lines ranged from 0·577 to 0·597%. Lines 10 and 30 had the lowest digestibility. The difference in intake between the five lines was positively correlated with their proportion of leaf (r= 0·97). Low‐intake lines (23 and 36) also had the highest proportion of seed head.It was concluded that selection ofC. ciliarison the basis of preference by cattle in a cafeteria study provided no useful guide to voluntary intake when the different lines were grown, cut, dried, chopped and fed se