Increased movement toward alliances and grid pricing in the U.S. has led to an increase interest in genetic values for carcass traits. The literature suggests that carcass genetic values are an effective tool to enhance selection for carcass traits, and that it is possible to select sires within a breed that can increase marbling score without adversely affecting external fat thickness or percent retail product relative to the breed mean. Ultrasound has been investigated as a cheaper means of collecting […]

Sustainability is an actual theme and very present in all discussion in the tropical agriculture world, including Brazil. This country experienced high taxes of development in agribusiness, increasing exportation trading, producing foods of better quality and raising incoming rates of farmers. However, two mains aspects call the attention in respect to sustainability: excessive soil preparation with monoculture of annual crops and pasture degradation. These situations have brought losses in crop and livestock yields, increased soil degradation and collapse of natural […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the genotype effect on the morphometric and quantitative characteristics of carcasses of kids and lambs finished in feedlot. A total of 34 entire male animals was used, 12 kid goats (½ Boer ´ ½ SRD), 12 kid goats (½ Anglo Nubiano ´ ½ SRD) and 10 Santa Inês sheep, with initial live weight of 18.3 kg, average age of 135 days at the beginning of the trial. The averages of withers height, […]

Goat milk is considered one of the most complete foods, since it holds several elements which are important for human nutrition, and necessary for the constitution of tissues and blood. This revision aims to assess the variations of the chemical composition and physical-chemical properties of the milk which occur due to some factors, such as: climate, breed, the individual, lactation stage and food. Feed management has been considered a key factor in the manipulation of milk components. There is a […]

The title may raise questions about definitions of the terms used. The more obvious ones are: 1) What is transfer? 2) How to define toxic; and 3) How to define feed or food. A more underlying question is how to measure the substances we are interested in. The (often) chemical methods used, are not always sensitive or specific enough. Sometimes, biologically based methods are used which detect a biological response, but seldom identify the compound responsible for that. Transfer is […]

The project aims at giving a technological upgrade to Brazilian aquaculture to attend the demands of the productive chain. The research focus in obtaining genetically improved fishes; in developing environmental friendly feeds of high zootechnical performance; and in implementing the integrated sanitary control in production systems. The adoption of “Best Management Practices” (BPMs) in aqualcuture systems will assure the production of good quality fishes and shrimps with higher market prices. The AQUABRASIL project involves more than 70 researchers of eleven […]

Following the development of more accurate methods for lipid evaluation, various compounds have been discovered and studied as a way to improve and enrich diets to meet the animal requirements. Triglycerides are the major lipid component of diets and source of fatty acids that are used in the synthesis of important compounds as phospholipids. The fatty acids from phospholipids play a fundamental role in cell signaling and are substrates for specific enzymes in the synthesis of immune response mediators. Several […]

The animal meal prohibition as a protein source with low ruminal degradability in ruminant nutrition, creates the need to seek alternatives, as legume seeds, however, its protein, have a high degradability, which could generate losses of nitrogen in the rumen. Other problem in the legume seeds is the content of antinutritional factors such as protease inhibitors, tannins, phenolic compounds, lectins and some others, could affect the digestibility. One alternative to decrease the degradability of the protein and/or decrease the activity […]

The equine is a non herbivore ruminant that is able to fully provide its nutritional need by the grass intake. Equines show the cecum and colon region plenty developed as their principal fermentation site. Such process either happens in the non glandular stomach region, but the volatile fatty acids production is inferior then the production in the – hindgut. To meet the optimum use of the mix of ingredients, and to avoid excess there are harmful to the equine metabolism, […]

The objective of the experiment was to evaluate discarded ewes slaughtered at different physiological stages and terminated in feedlot for yields of carcass and cuts and the percentage of each non carcass component. Twenty-one Santa Inês ewes were used, with average age of six years old, distributed into the following treatments: EL = ewes that had remained in lactation for 60 days with their respective lambs until slaughtering; EWL = ewes that remained in lactation for 60 days with their […]