The objectives of this research were to evaluate the effects of two forage levels and two experimental periods on the microbial efficiency, ruminal ammonia concentration, the ruminal pH, duodenal nitrogen (N) flux and digestibility. Four Holstein steers, two years old and 340 kg of body weight, ruminally and duodenally cannulated, were used. The experimental design was a 4 x 4 latin square and animals received four treatments as folowing: two levels of forage (70 and 30%) and two experimental periods […]

Ten lactating cows (Holtein and H*Z crossbreed) after 55d calving, with average weigth of 540 kg alloted to a switch-back design, were used in order to evaluate the intake and apparent digestibilities of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), crude protein (CP), total carbohydrates (TC) and ether extract (EE), the pH and ruminal ammonia concentration and milk yield and composition. The animals were fed ad libitum with diets containing alfalfa hay (AH), coastcross bermudagrass hay (CCH), […]

The true digestibility coefficients of amino acids (TDCaa) were determined and digestible amino acids prediction equations obtained, using the chemical composition of 11 feedstuffs. The feedstuffs evaluated were: brown flour meal, wheat flour, wheat grain, wheat grain residue, wheat germ, cookies residue, macaroni residue and, four wheat brans. The method of “precision feeding” with cecectomized adult rooster was utilized. A randomized complete design was used, with 11 feedstuffs and 1 fast, using six replications with 1 rooster per experimental unit. […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of increased environmental temperature on physiological traits of Morada Nova (MN) and Santa Ines (SI) sheep breeds in the Federal District, Brazil. Two groups (25 MN and 25 SI) were selected for study and included both pregnant (EP) and non-pregnant (EPN) ewes, aged betwen 2 and 4 years. The fifty ewes were recorded, once a month, for six months, at 8 am and 2 pm, and measurements included body weight […]

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different combination of levels of ammonia (0.0, 2.2, 3.2, 4.2% by weight of dry matter) and sodium sulphide (0.0, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1%) on chemical-bromatologic composition and “in vitro” dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of coffee peel with 30% of moisture. The crude protein (CP) content increased due to the crescent levels of anhydrous ammonia. The nitrogen retention (NR) decreased as the ammonia and sulphide levels increased. The contents of insoluble nitrogen in […]

To evaluate the intake, nutrients apparent digestibilities and nitrogen balance of corn silage, alfalfa and coastcross bermudagrass hays a digestibility trial with sheep was conducted. Fifteen crossbred castrated sheeps, with average live weigth 47.5 kg, were used in a randomized blocks design with four repplicates. The dry matter intake, in g/kg0.75, was influenced by feed and the higher value (68.06) was observed in animals fed with alfalfa hay. The ether extract and neutral detergent fiber intakes were smaller for animals […]

A study including two experiments was carried out to evaluate partial substitution of soybean meal (SM) by full-fat extruded soybean (ES) in the pre-starter diet, for piglets weaned at 21 days of age. In each experiment four levels (0, 20, 40 and 60%) of substitution of SM by ES were compared. In the first experiment, daily feed intake (DFI) and feed:gain ratio linearly increased for the total nursery period, due to substitution of SM by ES. Daily gain (DG) was […]

Twenty 3/4 Suffolk male lambs were fed ground and pelleted diets and slaughtered at 26 and 28 kg of liveweight. Diets were isoprotein (21% CP) and isoenergetic (2.9 Mcal ME/kg DM). Lambs had free entrance on creep feeding, staying with their mothers until reaching slaughter weight. Pelleted diet resulted in higher hot dressing-out percentages (54.18% for pelleted diet and 52.04% for ground one) and higher true dressing-out percentages (58.37% for pelleted diet and 56.66% for ground one). Hot and cold […]

Total and partial digestibility of diets combining the starch sources of high degradability (dried cassava hulls) and low degradability (corn), with nitrogen sources of high (yeast) and low (cottonseed meal and meat and bone meal) degradability, in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement, were evaluated. Four Holstein steers (334 kg) fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulas, in a 4 x 4 Latin Square were used. Chromic oxide was used as a marker for drying matter flow. Interactions of starch and […]

Eight hundred Avian Farms chicks (50% males; 50% females) from 1 to 21 days of age, averaging 40.5 g, fed a basal diet (3.000 kcal ME/kg and 21.1% CP) deficient in sodium (0.017%) and supplemented with NaCl, corresponding to the levels of 0.077, 0.137, 0.197, 0.257 and 0.317% total sodium, were used to determine the sodium requirement. A completely randomized design, in a 5×2 (sodium levels x sex) factorial design, with four replicates and 20 chicks per experimental unit, were used. […]