The objective of this trial was to evaluate performance, thermal comfort and behavior of crossbred Holstein x Zebu dairy calves kept in different housing systems during the dry season (26/04/2002 to 30/08/2002). Twenty-four calves were raised from birth to 70 days of age in one of the following housing systems: (1 – hutches; 2 – shadecloth; or 3 – with no shelter. Calves raised with no shelter showed higher rectal temperatures and respiratory rates in the afternoon. It was also […]

The objective of this trial was to investigate the effects of increasing dietary crude protein levels on N balance and metabolizable protein requirements for maintenance in Nellore heifers, bulls and steers averaging 16 months of age and body weight of 254.8, 285.1, and 265.6 kg, respectively. Animals were blocked by sexual category (heifers, bulls and steers) and randomly assigned to treatments in three replicated 4 x 4 Latin squares. Diets contained the following CP levels: 7, 10, 13, and 15%. […]

The experiment was carried out to determine the carbohydrate fractions of elephantgrass silage wilted under the sun for eight hours. Other treatments included the same elephantgrass without wilting but with addition of 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28% of cocoa meal at the ensiling process. The PVC silos used in the experiment had 5.3 L of capacity, and they were opened 45 days after ensiling. The wilted treatment showed total carbohydrate (TC) concentration similar to treatments with 14 and 21% […]

The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the different levels of soybean oil on endogenous losses, apparent and true ileal digestibility of amino acids in growing pigs diets. Four isoprotein corn and soybean meal based diets meeting the nutritional requirements for this phase, supplemented with crescent levels of soybean oil, (0.0, 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5) were evaluated. Chromic oxide (0.25%) was added to serve as digestibility marker. Sixteen cannulated pigs (simple T-cannula), with weight of 48.0 ± […]

Data from 359 Holstein and 54 Jersey cows (total of 1359 observations) collected in commercial herds in the northeast of Brazil were used to evaluate six environmental stress indexes. The selection criterion was the correlation between the index value with the rectal temperature (RT) and the respiratory rate (RR) of cows. Both Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) and Black Globe-Humidity Index (BGHI) had the lowest correlations with animal RT and RR. The selected indexes were the Equivalent Temperature Index (r = 0.293 […]

The objective of this trial was to evaluate performance, thermal comfort and behavior of crossbred Holstein x Zebu dairy calves kept in different housing systems during the rainy season (December to April). Twenty-four calves were raised from birth to 70 days of age in one of the following housing systems: hutches; shadecloth; or no shelter. Rectal temperature and respiratory rate measurements were taken twice a day (8:00 AM and 3:00 PM) when calves were 1, 4 and 9 weeks old. […]

The present study evaluated the relationship between different dietary net energy (NE) levels and body condition score (BCS) on performance of dairy goats during the prepartum period. Forty-eight pregnant goats were kept in individual cages during the last 30 days before parturition. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments (two BCS and three levels of NE in the diet). Goats were assigned to one of two groups, based on body […]

This experiment aimed to simulate thermal-stress-environment conditions in climatic chamber during the transportation of birds to slaughterhouse to evaluate the influence of these conditions on physiological parameters and carcass conformation in broiler chickens. Thirty chicks with 42 days old were weighted and distributed to transportation crates (10 chicks by crate), and submitted to high stress conditions (35ºC and 85% RH) to simulate the transport to the slaughterhouse. At each time of exposition to the stress conditions (0, 30, 60, 90 […]

Blood samples were collected from Pantaneiro Horses in five regions of Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso States. Arabian, Mangalarga Marchador and Thoroughbred were also included to estimate genetic distances and the existing variability among and within these breeds by RAPD-PCR (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA – Polymerase Chain Reaction) molecular markers. From 146 primers, 13 were chosen for amplification and 44 polymorphic bands were generated. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the greatest portion of detected variability […]

An experiment was carried out to determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME), apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) and chemical composition of bravo bean hay (HBB), jureminha hay (HJ) and maniçoba hay (HM) for use in birds feeding. Two hundred and eighty, 17 days old broiler chicks were distributed according to a completely randomized design, into seven treatments organized in a factorial arrangement 3 x 2 + 1 (three hay types x two levels of substitution of the […]