ABSTRACT The experiment aimed to evaluate the effects of supplementing a standard broiler diet, formulated based on corn and soybean meal (CSBM), with two levels of an exogenous enzyme (EZ) cocktail (0 and 0.05%), under two dietary metabolizable energy (ME) levels – normal (positive control, PC) and low (negative control, NC). From 0 to 35 d, 288 Ross 308 chicks were distributed across four treatments with 12 replicates of six chicks each. Growth performance was evaluated during the starter, grower, […]

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the productive and reproductive performance and the nutritional metabolic condition of ewes supplemented at different stages of gestation in a synchronized reproduction system. Fourty Santa Inês × Dorper crossbreed ewes, pregnant with an average age of ten months and two previous births, were distributed in a completely randomized design, with four treatments: mineral salt, supplementation started 20 days before the estrus synchronization (ES) protocol, supplementation from confirmation of pregnancy (60 days after ES), and […]

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effect of yeast on the growth performance and inflammation of yellow-feathered broilers challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Four hundred and eighty-one-day-old broilers (BW 38.5±1.01 g) were randomly divided into six treatments with eight replicates of 10 birds each and fed a basal diet with or without 0.025% antibiotics and 0.05 and 0.5% yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 1.0 × 1010 cfu/g), respectively. Broilers from each replication were intra-abdominally injected with LPS (1.0 mg/kg body weight) or saline at […]

ABSTRACT In this study, a mixture of estradiol benzoate, progesterone, and testosterone propionate was injected into Diannan small-ear sows to induce estrus. The 16S rRNA technology was used to comparatively analyze the differences in fecal microbial composition and diversity between induced and spontaneous estrus in Diannan small-ear sows. The most abundant phylum in the sows in estrus were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria. There was a significant negative correlation between Firmicutes and Bacteroide and a significant positive correlation between Bacteroides […]

ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to characterize differences in the time to onset of puberty and reproductive variables between East Friesian and Corriedale ewe lambs in an extensive pastoral system. The study was carried out for two consecutive years, and 73 pure-breed ewe lambs were evaluated (35 East Friesian and 38 Corriedale). Plasma progesterone was determined weekly between 4.5±0.5 and 7.2±0.5 months old. The time to onset of puberty was assumed when the progesterone levels were ≥0.6 ng/mL […]

ABSTRACT This study used a pedigree analysis to monitor trends in the genetic structure of the Mangalarga breed and identify factors that could impact its genetic variability. For this, genealogical information was used from the Associação Brasileira dos Criadores de Cavalo da Raça Mangalarga, considering as total population (TP) the animals born between 1919 and 2018 (n = 206,426) and as reference population (RP) those born between 2009 and 2018 (n = 20,539), which is the most recent generation according […]

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two maturity stages of whole-plant corn at harvest (32.1 or 42.5% dry matter (DM)) and a commercial microbial inoculant composed of L. buchneri and L. plantarum at concentration of 110,000 CFU/g of fresh forage (1.1 × 105 CFU/g FF) on fermentation losses, aerobic stability, chemical composition, and digestibility of starch and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). A factorial and randomized design was used (two DM contents, both with or without inoculant), with […]

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship among digestibility, residual feed intake (RFI), and enteric methane emission in growing Nellore cattle (Bos indicus) divergently classified based on RFI phenotype and breeding value (EBV-RFI). Animals (n = 122) subjected to performance testing (forage:concentrate ratio of 60:40) in two test groups were classified based on RFI. A sample of 80 animals classified as low (−0.748±0.076 kg DM/day) or high (0.775±0.075 kg DM/day) RFI was evaluated regarding feed compounds digestibility, fecal […]

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the increasing levels of inclusion of palm kernel cake (PKC) in the diet on the performance of feedlot heifers. Forty-eight Nelore heifers with an initial weight of 274 ± 4.58 kg, at 24 months of age, were confined for 98 days in a feedlot. The animals were allocated to the four treatments in a completely randomized design. Treatments consisted of PKC levels of 0 (control), 10, 20, and […]

ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to assess the impact of an enzyme complex (EC) on the metabolizability coefficients of dry matter (MCDM), crude protein (MCCP), and ether extract (MCEE) and on the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) of corn gluten meal, soybean protein concentrate, dried bovine plasma, and poultry offal meal. Additionally, the experiments aimed to evaluate how EC affected broiler performance. In experiment I, 720 day-old Cobb 500® broilers were assigned to a completely randomized design using a 4 […]