The feedlot performance of Aberdeen Angus (AA) and Hereford (HE) steers submitted to two energy levels, in a 2 x 2 factorial scheme, being the lower level of 3.07 (12% of concentrate in the diet) and the higher of 3.18 Mcal of digestible energy/kg of DM (32% of concentrate in the diet), was evaluated. Eight steers of each breed were used, with nine months of age and average initial weight of 220.31 kg. The animals were confined until the estimated […]

Many problems of the beef herd, including low pregnancy rates and low weaning weights, are related to inadequate intakes of energy and /or protein, as well as to minerals and vitamins deficiencies. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of beef cows supplemented with phosphorus/calcium with or without energy/protein during the dry season. All cows received complete mineral mixtures during the wet season; during the dry season, the imposed treatments were: complete mineral mixtures or mineral […]

The coefficients of apparent digestibility of dry matter (CADDM), organic matter (CADOM), crude protein (CADCP), ether extract (CADEE), total carbohydrates (CADTCHO), nonfiber carbohydrates (CADNFC), neutral detergent fiber (CADNDF) and acid detergent fiber (CADADF) were determined to evaluate the effect of the increasing dietary energy levels. The estimate of the apparent digestibility of the nutrients, using the method of fecal total collection, and the estimate of fecal dry matter production (FDMP), by the indigestible acid detergent fiber (IADF), as internal marker, […]

This work was carried out to evaluate the intake and apparent digestibility of nutrients in the diet with four replacement levels of corn (0, 25, 50 and 75%) by forage cactus meal. Sixteen lambs, averaging 30 months age and live weight (LW) of 40 kg, were allotted to a completely randomized experimental design. There was no effect of levels of replacement on the intake of nutrients, that were restricted at 2.5% of LW. There was no effect of levels of […]

Body composition of 42 crossbreed bulls ¼ B. indicus x ¾ B. taurus of either Continental (Guelbvieh) or British (Shorthorn) paternal breed and Caracu x Nelore cows (9 months old and initial empty body weight of 243 kg), were evaluated. Six animals were slaughtered after the adaptation period to obtain the initial body composition. The other 36 animals were fed diets formulated with 9, 15 and 21% of sugar cane bagasse in natura (BIN) and concentrated. There were no significant […]

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of soybean oil (500 mL/animal/day), Rumensin® (3g/animal/day) and levels of concentrate (0, 25, 50 and 75%) in the diet of bovines, and sugarcane as a forage source, in some ruminal parameters and dry matter intake. There were used four rumen fistulated 7/8 holstein-zebu steers, at 400 kg of live weight. The experiment consisted of four periods of 15 days, in which 12 were for adaptation to the diets and three […]

The effect of five dietary concentrate levels on the gastrintestinal contents and internal organs weight of Nellore bulls was evaluated. Twenty-five animals averaging 330 kg and 20 months of age were allotted to a completely randomized design, with five treatments constituted by different dietary concentrate levels in dry matter (25.0, 37.5, 50.0, 62.5, and 75.0%). The animals, when reached the pre-established slaughter weight of 450 kg, were slaughtered and the organs and viscera weights were recorded. Regression equations were fitted […]

This work was carried out to estimate the efficiency of metabolizable energy utilization (EMEU) for maintenance (km) and weight gain (kf) and the requirements of metabolizable energy (ME) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) of Nellore bulls. Thirty-five animals, averaging 330 kg and 20 months old, were used. After the period of adaptation (40 days), five animals were slaughtered as reference. The remaining animals were allotted, in a completely randomized design, to the treatments (12.5, 25.0, 37.5, 50.0, 62.5, and 75.0% […]

The objectives of this trial were to study the effect of supplementation with concentrate on elephant grass pasture rotationally managed on milk yield and composition and live weight changes of crossbred Holstein x Zebu cows. The treatments were: no concentrate (NC) and 2 kg concentrate/cow/day (WC). The experiment was carried out during the rainy season. The area was divided in 44 paddocks of 606 m2 each, with 22 for each treatment, with two areas replication of 11 paddocks each. Twelve […]

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of five dietary concentrate levels (25.0, 37.5, 50.0, 62.5, and 75.0%) on intake and the total and partial apparent digestibilities of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), total carbohydrates (CHO) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Five rumen, abomasum and ileum fistulated F1 Limousin x Nellore bulls, with average initial weight of 279 kg were used, in a 5 x 5 Latin square design, with […]