Twenty-six Moxotó non-castrated male kids (averaging 15 kg of initial live weight (LW) and 6-8 months old) fed a diet with 2.6 Mcal of metabolizable energy were used to predict the net energy requirements for maintenance and net efficiency of metabolizable energy utilization (EMEU) for maintenance (km) and weight gain (kf). At the beginning of the experiment, six animals were slaughtered as reference to estimate initial body composition and initial empty body weight (EBW). Afterwards, five groups of four animals […]

The effect of different thermal control systems on broiler body temperature was evaluated in 610 female broiler chickens, Cobb breed, housed in 10 small scale of aviaries models (treatments). Climate data were collected inside the models and were used to calculate the Thermal Heat Load (THL). Bird surface and rectal temperature were recorded to calculate average body temperature (ABT). Data were always collected from 1:00 and 2:00 pm, the hour of maximum THL inside models. The treatments consisted of a […]

The objective was to evaluate the performance of lactating water buffalo fed diets with different fat sources. Twelve lactating water buffaloes were randomly distributed in four diets: without additional fat, soybean seed, cottonseed and soybean oil. The experimental period was 84 days, with four periods of 21 days (14 days for diet adaptation and 7 days for sample collections. The diets were fullfed, twice daily, as total mixed ration. At sample collections period, milk yield (kg/day) and 4% fat corrected […]

This research was to evaluate the effect of Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in diets for bovines on ruminal metabolism, including pH, volatile fatty acids, and ammonia and methane production. Four crossbred male cattle (800 kg LW) rumen cannulated were distributed to a 4 × 4 Latin Square design, in 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, composed by two levels of Leucaena (20% and 50% DM) and coast-cross grass hay, with or without yeast. No differences were observed in […]

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of different forms of water supply for laying hens on performance and egg and water quality. Two types of drinking system were evaluated: cup and nipple. In each treatment 10 replicates had been used, composed for five hens. The experiment lasted 63 days, divided in three periods of 21 days. Data of performance and egg quality were submitted to variance analysis and, when the differences were significant, they were compared by […]

The objective of this study was to estimate direct and maternal additive genetic, non-additive and heterozygotic effects for pre and post-weaning traits and to develop equations to predict growth performance in a multi-breed Aberdeen Angus (Angus)-Nellore herd. The analyses were performed by SAS® using two different models. The model 1 (M1) was used for the pre-weaning traits, weaning weight adjusted to 205 days of age (P205) and average daily gain from birth to weaning (GMDND), and included the fixed effects […]

The lysine levels for chickens in the growing phase (22 to 40 days of age) by using two different electrolytes balance were evaluated. Sixty-four hundred Cobb broiler male of 21 days old were allotted to a completely randomized design as a factorial arrangement of treatments, five lysine levels (1.062, 20, 40, and 60% above and 20% below of recommended levels) and two electrolytes balance (190 and 255 mEq/kg), with four replicates and 16 broilers for experimental unit. There was no […]

The objectives of this trial were to quantify the water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) concentration present in sugarcane that nullifies ethanol production, and to evaluate the effects of WSC content on nutritive value and other fermentative characteristics of sugarcane silage. A completely randomized design was used with three treatments and four repetitions per treatment. Sugarcane was squeezed in order to remove juice. In the first treatment, juice was totally added back to sugarcane (100%). In the second treatment, only 50% of […]

Quantitative genetics can be used to understand how traits will respond to artificial selection regimes, and therefore, it can be an important tool in the development of selective breeding programs for animal improvement. In order to predict the response to selection, the traditional approach in quantitative genetics partitions phenotypic variation into a heritable genetic component that contributes to the response and a non-heritable environmental component that does not. However, there is an increasing recognition that environmental variation contributed by the […]

Two experiments were carried out to estimate sodium requirements for brown-eggs laying hens in the late first and during second egg-production cycle. A completely randomized design was used, with seven sodium levels (0.08, 0.13, 0.18, 0.23, 0.28, 0.33 and 0.38%), six replications of six birds in the late first egg-production cycle and five replications of six birds in the second egg-production cycle. In the late first egg-production cycle, sodium levels (SL) had no effect on feed intake (FI), egg weight […]