ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the effects of backgrounding supplementation, by increasing the levels of energy-protein supplements during the growing phase on the performance and rumen morphometrics of Nellore bulls intensively finished on pasture. Ninety-six Nellore bulls were blocked according to initial body weight (BW) of 385.6 ± 7.3 kg and randomly assigned to one of 24 paddocks of Urochloa brizantha cv. ‘Piata’ (four animals/paddock). The animals were supplemented during the growing phase as follows: (1) energy-protein supplementation at […]

ABSTRACT A meta-analysis was undertaken to examine the effects of different supplementation strategies on production of beef cattle grazing tropical pastures during the wet and dry seasons in Brazil. The database was built with 132 studies published from 1999 to 2010, which accounted for 6,275 individual animals. The supplements assessed were classified into three groups: energy supplement containing <20% crude protein (CP), protein supplement containing ≥20% CP, and urea mineral supplement. The supplementation levels ranged from 0 to 1.6% body […]

The objective of this study was to verify the effect of low-intake supplementation on performance of Nellore young bulls kept on Marandu grass pasture. The experiment was divided in two periods: the dry and rainy seasons. Treatments during the dry period were composed of mineral salt with urea and mineral supplement enriched with true protein and additive. In the rainy period treatments were mineral salt and enriched mineral supplement only. Pastures were evaluated and animals were weighed in both evaluation […]

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the characteristics of the sward canopy of Marandu grass during the rainy season, the wet-to-dry transition and the dry seasons, between March and September 2004, under intermittent grazing, and to correlate those characteristics with the performance of crossbred heifers receiving mineral supplements ad libitum or protein supplements. The experiment consisted of a randomized block design with three blocks (set of 13 paddocks), each containing five crossbred heifers per experimental unit, totaling […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of protein sources and frequency of supplement offer on the intake and nutrient digestibility, on the concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (N-NH3), on rumen pH and on serum urea nitrogen concentrations in steers grazing pasture of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu during the dry season. Five crossbred Zebu × Angus steers with initial live weight of 295 kg, castrated and fitted with rumen canullae were used in a 5 × 5 Latin […]

Two experiments were carried out with the objective of evaluating the effects of the frequency of supplementation with two proteins sources on productive and economical performance (experiment 1) and the nutrients digestibility of steers in supplemented pasture during the dry season over a year. It was used twenty weaned zebu calves at the age of 10 months and initial live weight (LW) of 208.43 kg, distributed in four paddocks of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu, each one with 1.6 ha. Both […]

The effects were assessed of supplying supplementary roughage on intake, milk yield and milk physical and chemical composition in F1 (Boer ×Saanen) goats. Eighteen females were placed in three stalls, and received as ad libitum supplement sorghum silage, corn silage and mulberry hay (MHT), with daily control of dry matter intake. The average daily production per week was calculated by gathering the milk data in three post-parturition periods: 1 (34-40 days/7 days); 2 [(64-70 days/7 days) + (91-97 days)/7 days)]/2 […]

The objective of this study was evaluate the levels of protein-energy supplementation, offered at different frequencies, to growing steers kept on Brachiaria decumbens pasture during the dry season. Twenty-five no castrated steers were used, 191 kg initial average weight, in a randomized complete block design, with five replications per treatment in a 2 × 2 + 1 factorial arrangement, that is, two protein-energy supplementation levels (0.3 and 0.6% on the basis of body weight (BW)), two supplement distribution frequencies – […]

The objective of this study was to observe the effect of using bypass fat in the diet of Bergamasca ewes on milk yield, milk composition and ewe weight dynamics. Seventy seven ewes were distributed in two homogeneous groups, according to lambing order and age fed a control diet with corn silage and concentrate; or with a control diet with bypass fat (35 g/ewe/day) added to the concentrate. The diets were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous, presenting 16% CP and 70% TDN on […]

The objective of this work was to evaluate the in vitro degradation dynamics of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of high-quality tropical forage according to supplementation with different nitrogenous compounds sources. A signal grass sample harvested during rainy season was used as basal forage. Casein was used as true protein source and urea:ammonium sulfate (U:AS, 9:1) mixture (urea) as non-protein nitrogen source. The first three supplements were the addition of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg of casein per mL of final […]