The objective of this study was to evaluate weight gain of beef steers grazing Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu and receiving one out of three different supplementation strategies during the rainy season of 2003 and the dry and rainy seasons of 2004. Twenty-four crossbreed steers averaging 230 kg of initial body weight were assigned to one of the following supplementation strategies: daily supplementation (DS), supplementation in alternated days (AD), or supplementation from Monday to Friday (MF) in a completely randomized design […]

This research was carried out to evaluate the quality of the roughage produced by hydroponics. Rice hulls and chopped elephantgrass were used as substrates for corn cultivation, put on plastic canvas. Corn seeding density was 2.5 kg of seed/m2. A randomized experimental design was used, with seven replications. Plot utile area measured 0.5 m x 0.5 m. Fertiirrigation was used from the 3rd to the 14th day after seeding. Harvest occurred at the 14th day and fresh forage productivity was […]

This work aimed to perform the morphologic characterization of eleven previously selected Cajanus cajan lines. The main descriptors were: plant height (cm), number of branches, stem diameter (mm), basic flower color, basic pod color, seed color, seed hilum color, hilum thickness, and seed shape. The descriptors used were sufficient to characterize the lines with distinct characteristics. Using these descriptors the lines may be easily identified.

Four Santa Gertrudis young bulls fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannula were randomly assigned to a 4 x 4 Latin square to compare ruminal, intestinal, and total tract digestibility of nutrients estimated by the internal marker indigestible acid detergent fiber (IADF) or by the external marker chromic oxide (Cr2O3). Animals were fed palisadegrass hay (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu) and concentrates formulated to allow daily body weight gain of 0.5 and 1 kg and potential of microbial fermentation of 9.5 and […]

The objective of this trial was to investigate the effects of oxytocin on milk yield and composition and on cheese yield of Santa Inês sheep receiving a diet containing 12% CP and 65% TDN. Animals were maintained in pens and were assigned to one of the following two treatments: hand milking plus an intravenous injection of 3 IU of oxytocin or hand milking without oxytocin injection (control group). Ewes were milked daily and remained with their lambs for a daily […]

The experiment was conducted to determine the energy values of 12 feeds for Japanese quails. Two hundred and eighty quails averaging 19 weeks old were submitted to the method of total feces collection as a randomized block design, with ten quails per experimental unit. The experimental period lasted 32 days, divided into four trials of eight days each, where two groups of feeds were studied (protein and energetic), with five replicates each: protein of animal origin (meat and bone meal, […]

The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effect of milk production level on intake, digestibility of nutrients, microbial protein synthesis, and nitrogen (N) metabolism in Holstein cows. It was also of particular interest to compare spot urine sampling and total urine collection as methodologies to quantify yield of microbial N using purine derivatives (PD) as indirect microbial markers. Fifteen Holstein cows were grouped by milk yield (5.88 kg/day: LOW treatment; 18.54 kg/day: MEDIUM treatment; and 32.6 kg/day: HIGH […]

The effects of increasing dietary ME levels on performance and egg quality of 240 laying European quails from 56 to 168 days of age were evaluated in this experiment. The experiment was analyzed as a complete randomized design with five treatments (2,650, 2,750, 2,850, 2,950, and 3,050 kcal ME/kg), six replicates and eight birds per experimental unit. The corn, soybean meal-based diets were formulated to contain 20% of CP, 2.5% of Ca, 1.17% of lysine and 0.802% of methionine + […]

Eight crossbred steers fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulas were randomly assigned to two replicated 4 x 4 Latin squares to evaluate the effects of crude protein (CP) levels on intake and total, ruminal and intestinal digestibility of nutrients. Animals were fed a control diet containing Tifton 85 bermudagrass hay or the control diet supplemented with urea (NPN diet), soybean meal (SBM diet) or corn gluten meal-60 (CGM diet). Indigestible acid detergent fiber was used as the internal marker for […]

Twenty-seven Boer x Saanen goat kids (15 males and 12 females) averaging 25.75 ± 3.80 kg of initial BW were used in a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of replacing ground corn grain (GCG) with soybean hulls (SH) on performance and apparent digestibility of nutrients. Diets contained star grass hay (Cynodon spp.), soybean meal, minerals, and one of the following levels of SH: 0% (GCG diet), 50% (SH50) or 100% (SH100). The experimental period lasted 42 days and […]