ABSTRACT – Thirty six lambs (18 male and 18 female) from three different genetic groups: 12 lambs Texel x Bergamacia, (T B), 12 lambs Texel x Santa Inês (T S) and 12 lambs pure Santa Inês (SI) were fed with three different experimental diets: A – without coffee hulls; B – with in natura coffee hull and; C – with coffee hull, treated with urea and whole ground soybean seed. The hot carcass weight (CQ), cold carcass weight (CF), hot […]

ABSTRACT – The effects of different concentrate levels on the ingestive behavior were studied with five rumen and abomasum fistulated Holstein bull calves, with average initial age of 10.8±0.8 months and average 233.4±26.1 kg BW. The animals were housed in individual stalls and ad libitum fed diets containing 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90% of concentrate, on DM basis. The diets contained, approximately, 16% CP were formulated for body weight gain of 1.0 kg/day and constituted of soybean meal corn […]

ABSTRACT – This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of different concentrate levels on the liquid passage rates, using Co-EDTA, and particulate, using ytterbium chloride and Cr-mordant, and the in situ ruminal degradation kinetics of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP). Five rumen and abomasum fistulated bull Holstein calves, with an initial average age of 5.8±0.7 months and initial average of 107.4±11.0 kg LW were allotted to a 5×5 Latin square design (treatment x period). The animals were […]

A method is presented to estimate the radiation heat balance of Holstein cows exposed to sun and under shade of a pasture, to contribute with a morphological characteristics better adequate for these animals in a tropical environment. The methods involved the haircoat characteristics (surface area of black spots, coat thickness, hair length, hair diameter, number of hairs per unit of area), skin and coat surface temperatures and environmental variables (solar irradiance, wind speed, air and globe temperatures). The amount of […]

The objectives of this experiment were to determine the apparent absorption, to estimate the endogenous fecal losses and the true absorption of Mg and to determine the ad libitum drinking water ingestion and the Mg serum concentration for Anglonubian (AN) and Saanen (SN) goat breeds. Twelve kids, six of each breed, with average 19.8 kg LW, were used. Semipurified diets (low Mg content) based on cracked rice, corn gluten meal and cellulose were supplemented with MgO to obtain the levels […]

This work was carried out to estimate the retention and the net requirements of Ca and P, in 120 goats averaging 42 kg LW. The estimate retention based in the difference between the total of each mineral stored in the fetus, the uterus, the membranes, the fetal fluids and the mammary gland of animals in the different phases of pregnancy and the total of each mineral stored in the empty goats. The model of prediction used was lnY = A […]

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of different feed sources that can cause diarrhea and of alopecia in growing kids. A completely randomized design with six diets (1 – milk, 2 – milk + zeranol, 3 – colostrum, 4 – colostrum + soybean oil, 5 – colostrum + zeranol and 6 – colostrum + soybean oil + zeranol) and five replicates was used. Fecal scores were daily measured. The highest fecal scores were observed on diets 4 […]

The objective of this work was to study the efficiency of nutrient utilization by Canchim (CA), Nellore (NE) and crossbreed 1/2 Canchim + 1/2 Nelore (CANE) growing heifers, in three diets: maintenance, forage:concentrate ratio (RFC) of 75:25 (test 1), diet for weight gains up to 700 g/animal/day, RFC of 60:40 (test 2) and diet for weight gains up to 1200 g/animal/day, RFC of 40:60 (test 3). Twenty-four heifers were used in each test, eight of each genetic group. Each test […]

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of diets with different concentrate levels on feeding behavior of dairy goats. Eighteen native Brazilian dairy goats were allotted to a completely randomized design with three treatments and six replicates. Three different diets in a total mixed diet were ad libitum feed to the animals, with variation in forage:concentrate ratio of 62:38, 52:48, to 42:58 as fed. The experiment period was of 131 days, with 26 days for adaptation and […]

In the present work, the chemical composition changes and dry matter (DM) digestibility of three cultivars (Empasc-307-Testo, Empasc-309-Areia and Roxo) of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.), were measured through a growing period of 126 days. The production and quality of tropical forage grasses were determined, in part, by the growing period. The plants showed greater height and dry matter accumulation, increasing the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and lignin concentrations and substantially reducing DM and NDF digestibility levels, with longer growing […]