ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to determine the variation of milk stability evaluated with ethanol, boiling, and coagulation time tests (CTT) to identify milk components related with stability and verify the correlation between the three methods. Bulk raw milk was collected monthly at 50 dairy farms from January 2007 to October 2009 and physicochemical attributes, somatic cell (SCC), and total bacterial counts (TBC) were determined. Milk samples were classified into low, medium, and high stability to ethanol test […]

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine the optimal level of dried brewers’ grains (DBG) to replace soybean meal in diets for lactating Holstein cows. Five cows, around 88±28 days in milk, were distributed in a 5 × 5 Latin square design and fed diets containing different levels of DBG (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%). The forage:concentrate ratio of the diet was 50:50. Feed intake, dry matter, nutrient digestibility, microbial synthesis, milk production and composition, and the […]

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the effect of diets containing sunflower or corn silages and concentrate based on citrus pulp or ground corn on intake, apparent digestibility, feeding behavior, microbial protein production, and production, composition, and fatty acid profile of milk from dairy cows. Eight multiparous lactating Holstein cows (586±61 kg live weight; 25.0±4.0 kg daily milk yield at 80 to 120 days in milk) were randomly assigned to a double 4 × 4 Latin square design with a […]

The effect of supplementation with corn oil (CO) and its mixture with palm kernel oil (CO:PKO 75:25) to grazing cows on ruminal fermentation, milk yield, and its fatty acid (FA) profile was evaluated. The treatments were: one control treatment (C) without oil and two treatments with 720 g d−1/cow of CO or CO:PKO (ether extract: 22.7 g kg−1 for control treatment, 66 g kg−1 for CO, and 65 g kg−1 for CO:PKO). Six multiparous Holstein cows (6.3±1.8 yr, 597±11.5 kg […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of F1 (Holstein × Zebu) cows in lactation according to different levels of substitution of soybean meal for a protein equivalent non-protein nitrogen originated from slow-release urea (SRU). Eight F1 (Holstein × Zebu) cows in the first third of lactation, with an average milk yield of 12.7 kg (±3.1 kg)/day and a live weight of 552 kg (±30 kg), were used. The experimental design was composed of two simultaneous 4 […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of forage cactus with different fiber sources (elephant grass hay – EGH; corn straw – CS, hay of cassava shoots – HCS; fresh sugarcane bagasse – FSB; and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse – HSB) on the milk yield and composition and the feeding behavior of lactating Sindhi cows. Five cows with average body weight, average daily milk yield, and average daily 4%-fat-corrected milk yield of 265, 4.95 and 5.22 kg, respectively, […]

The objective was to evaluate intake and digestibility of nutrients, as well as milk production and composition of the milk from F1 Holstein × Gyr cows kept on pasture, supplemented with sugarcane and concentrate (28% CP). Five cows with 150±14 lactation days and average milk production of 7.1±2.1 kg/day were distributed in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The treatments were: soybean meal-based concentrate; soy bean-based concentrate; ground soybean-based concentrate; roasted soybean-based concentrate; and ground, roasted soybean-based concentrate. Dry […]

The objective of this study was to calculate economic values for milk (MY), protein (PY) and fat productions (FY) and somatic cell count (SCC) which could be used to compose an economic index to rank animals involved in an international genetic evaluation program of Holstein cattle used in the commercial dairy population in Brazil. The main milk production systems (MPS) prevailing in the South and Southeast were defined based on the feeding management and production level of herds. To calculate […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of wheat bran as an additive in elephant-grass silage on intake and digestibility of the nutrients, ingestive behavior, and yield and chemical composition of milk. Eight goats with 45 days of lactation were distributed in a (4 × 4) Latin square design.The treatments consisted of corn silage (CS), elephant-grass silage without wheat bran (EGS), elephant-grass silage with 10% wheat bran (EGS+10%WB), and elephant-grass silage with 20% wheat bran (EGS+20% WB). […]

An experiment was performed aiming at evaluating the performance of dairy cows fed sugarcane silages treated with additives compared to cows fed fresh forage. Twenty-four Holstein cows were grouped in blocks of three cows, according to parity order and milk production level, in multiple 3 x 3 Latin Square design to evaluate three types of ration (63% roughage and 37% concentrate in dry matter – DM): ration with silage treated with urea (5.0 g/kg of fresh forage – FF) + […]