This study evaluated yearling growth and reproductive performance of Hereford heifers at 24-26 months of age grazing on natural pastures at two stocking rates during winter and spring, associated or not to improved natural pastures. Heifers were classified according to three weight groups (Light, Medium and Heavy) and randomly distributed into four feeding management practices: 0.6 AU (1 animal unit = 450-kg body weight) – heifers on natural pastures at a stocking rate of 0.6 AU/ha; 0.8 AU – heifers […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate morphometric measures, carcass yields, absolute weights and yields of commercial cuts of carcass of kids with no defined breed. Eighteen castrated male goats, with average weight of 15 kg were used. The experimental period lasted 105 days. The experimental design was completely randomized; animals were allocated to three treatments: free grazing without supplementation; restricted grazing without supplementation and free grazing with supplementation. Animals were supplemented (1% of body weight) with forage cactus […]

Dry matter yield and chemical composition of forage grasses harvested from an area degraded by urban solid waste deposits were evaluated. A split-plot scheme in a randomized block design with four replicates was used, with five grasses in the plots and three harvests in the subplots. The mineral content and extraction and heavy metal concentration were evaluated in the second cut, using a randomized block design with five grasses and four replicates. The grasses were Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, Brachiaria […]

The objective of this study was to characterize body biometrics of Santa Ines sheep during growth. Data from 4,038 animals, males and females, with ages from four to 36 months, from different herds participating in the National Agricultural Fair in Bahia from 2003 to 2008 were used. The characteristics evaluated were: body weight, average daily gain, body length, thoracic circumference, anterior height and posterior height. The mean values found were compared by the Student-Newman-Keuls test. All characteristics studied showed gradual […]

The objective of this research was to evaluate different minimum ventilation systems, in relation to air quality and thermal comfort using geostatistics in brooding phase. The minimum ventilation systems were: Blue House I: exhaust fans + curtain management (end of the building); Blue House II: exhaust fans + side curtain management; and Dark House: exhaust fans + flag. The climate variables evaluated were: dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, carbon dioxide and ammonia concentration, during winter time, at 9 […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and dry matter in vitro digestibility of stem, leaf, straw, cob and kernel fractions of eleven corn (Zea mays) cultivars, harvested at two cutting heights. The experiment was designed as randomized blocks, with three replicates, in a 2 × 11 factorial arrangement (eleven cultivars and two cutting heights). The corn cultivars evaluated were D 766, D 657, D 1000, P 3021, P 3041, C 805, C 333, AG 5011, […]

The objective of the present experiment was to evaluate the effect of forage allowance (3, 6 or 9 kg of green leaves dry matter (DM)/100 kg of body weight (BW)) on both animal performance and attributes of Cynodon dactylon var.dactylon canopy managed under continuous stocking by wethers. The study was carried out with 27 Polwarth wethers throughout five 28-day periods, in a completely randomized experiment, which included three paddocks per treatment and three tester animals per paddock. Forage mass varied […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the whey fermented by Enterococcus faecium in consortium with Veilonella parvula on the in vitro growth of ruminal bacteria and as a supplement in the cattle diet. In the in vitro experiment, a randomized design, with the following combinations was used: ruminal bacteria; ruminal bacteria and inactive whey; ruminal bacteria and active whey; and active whey. In the in vivo experiment, five fistulated Zebu Holstein-Zebu crossbred heifers were distributed in a 5 […]

The objective of the present study was to compare the apparent digestibility coefficients of a commercial dog food, fecal consistency and behavior of dogs housed in kennels and metabolic cages. Six adult Beagle dogs were distributed in cross-over experimental design, with six replicates per treatment. Dogs were housed in two environments: metabolic cages and in masonry kennels with solarium. Dogs were fed for a five-day adaptation period, and the five following days were used for total feces collection. Dogs behavior […]

To determine the relationship of arginine with lysine for Japanese quails during the period of production, an experiment was conducted using 360 subspecies of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) with 162 days of age, distributed in a completely randomized design. Diets were formulated with corn, soybean meal, sorghum and wheat bran containing 20.0% crude protein and 2,800 kcal ME/kg. The basal diet contained suboptimal level of lysine equal to 1% and was supplemented with five levels of L-arginine 99% (0.032; […]