A performance trial was carried out to evaluate sugar cane yeast, (Saccharomyces spp.) dried by spray-dryer (SCYSD), on growing-finishing pigs feeding. Thirty-two crossbreed growing pigs, half of each sex, with an average initial live weight of 26.1 kg. The piglets were fed ad libitum, with diets at increasing levels (0, 7, 14 and 21%) of SCYSD. A randomized blocks experimental design was used, and four levels of inclusion and four replications, with two-pigs/experimental unit. Inclusion of SCYSD in the growth […]

A total of 61,920 eggs from a single commercial line of broiler breeders was incubated. The effect of different incubation temperatures (T), measured by the wet bulb thermometer in degrees Celsius (ºC), was evaluated with eggs classified by weight (P) from broiler breeders with different ages (I). Evaluation of the percentages of total hatched, hatchability, egg weight loss and embryo mortality was performed. A completely randomized experimental design in a factorial 3 x 4 x 5, representing, respectively, three T […]

Twenty one crossbred yearlings Holstein-Zebu heifers, with average initial age and weights of 14 months and 245 kg, respectively, were used in the performance evaluation. For evaluation of the ruminal parameters and sampling of the consumed pasture, five Limousin x Nelore steers, fistulated in the rumen and esophagus and maintained in an extra pasture of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu, were used to evaluate ruminal parameters, pasture intake and to collect pasture samples. The experiment was carried out during three experimental […]

The aim of the work was to determine the digestible protein requirement (PD) for Nile tilapia in the sexual reversion phase, where 1250 larvae were assigned to 25 aquariums (60 L), with five treatments and five replicates in a completly randomized design. The larvae were fed ad libitum, five times a day, with isoenergy, isocalcium, isophophorus rations, with 30, 34, 38, 42 and 46% of PD, and 30 mg/kg of a-metil hormone testosterone. The animals of each experimental unit were […]

An experiment was carried out to evaluate testicular and body growth, peripheral concentrations of testosterone (T) and carcass parameters, from 10 to 30 months of age, in Nelore bulls (n=27). Between 11 and 21 months, animals were treated with GnRH and blood samples taken 0, 1.5 and 3.0 hours afterwards. Animals were slaughtered at 30 months. Body weight (BW) varied from 195.2 ± 3.8 kg to 439.1 ± 8.1 kg between 10 and 30 months of age and the ratio […]

The following leg components were evaluated: weight and length, total muscle weight, sum weight of the biceps femoris + semimembranosus + semitendinosus + quadriceps femoris + adductor muscles, total bone weight, femur weight, subcutaneous, intermuscular and total fat weights. The weights were also expressed as a percentage of leg weight. Femur length, femur circumference, muscle:bone ratio and muscularity index were also calculated. Twenty Ile de France x Ideal (F1) intact lambs were used. At the start of the experiment, average […]

Performance, carcass characteristics and coefficients of apparent digestibility of Nile tilapia fingerlings (Oreochromis niloticus) fed diets with increasing levels of poultry by-product meal (PM) were evaluated. Three hundred fingerlings with average initial weight of 0.35±0.01 g were placed in thirty 120 L net ponds in five cement 1000 L tanks. Six levels of PM inclusion (0.00, 4.00, 8.00, 12.00, 16.00 and 20.00%) were used in the diets, in an experimental randomized blocks desing with six treatments and three replicates. An […]

A static and deterministic model, synthesizing published experimental information, was used to simulate the productivity and biological efficiency of beef cattle life-cycle production systems in Rio Grande do Sul, differing in heifers’ age at first calving (IP, months) and steer age at slaughter (IA, months): “Traditional System” (ST), IP48, IA54; “Improved System” (SM), IP36, with two slaughter ages, IA36 (SM-I) and IA24 (SM-II); “One Year System” (SU), IP24, with three slaughter ages, IA36 (SU-I), IA24 (SU-II) and IA18 (SU-III). For […]

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of leaf age and insertion level and season of growth on the tissue proportion and the cell wall thickness of leaf blade and stem segment of signalgrass (Brachiaria decumbens), molassesgrass (Melinis minutiflora) and Tifton 85 bermudagrass (Cynodon sp). Leaf blades from bottom and top layers were sampled on the day of ligule exposure and 20 days later. The relative proportion of epidermis, xylem, phloem, parenchyma bundle sheath, sclerenchyma, stem parenchyma and […]

In the Nellore Breed Genetic Improvement Program (PMGRN) the breeding value predictions of five different traits are put together in a single number named Total Genetic Merit (MGT). This number is calculated from the Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) of: weight at 120 days of age – maternal; weight at 120, 365 and 450 days of age direct; and scrotal circumference at 365 and 450 days of age direct. The aim of this study was to identify and to describe the […]