Although Pet food companies use important amounts of protein and carbohydrate sources, little scientific information was published about digestibility and metabolizable energy of these ingredients for dogs and cats. Rice and corn have been considered the better starch sources for these animals, but it was presented that sorghum is well digestible for dogs too. When interpreting scientific data the reader needs to consider the differences among studies that evaluated flour or refined starch or the usage of ground grain, as […]

Providing feed is a major input cost in beef production, hence improvements in the efficiency of feed utilisation will reduce the cost of production. Residual feed intake (RFI) is a measure of feed efficiency, and is defined as the difference between an animal’s actual feed intake and its expected feed intake based on its size and growth. It is independent of the level of production, and the lower the value the more efficient the animal is. This paper examines the […]

The broiler industry produces efficiently animal protein, but generates residues with high contents of N, P, K, trace minerals, and high bacterial charge. The rapid microbial decomposition of these residues cause ammonia volatilization, nuisance odor, fine particulate matter, and attract insects and rodents. This presentation will discuss the more effective methods to utilize these resources and minimize potential environmental impact. These procedures include planning, personnel training, zoning of areas used to dispose the final residues in crop lands, farm isolation, […]

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different fluorine:phosphorus ratios in the diet on performance of broiler chickens. One thousand broiler chickens with one day old were allotted to a completely randomized experimental design with four treatments with five replications of fifty broilers per experimental unit. The treatments was composed by four phosphorus sources with fluorine: phosphorus ratios of 1:40, 1:60,1:80, 1:100 and fed during three experimental phases: 1-21, 22-42 and 43-49 days. In each phase, feed intake, […]

In 1989, the National Research Council (NRC) Subcommittee on Horse Nutrition defined three categories of exercise: light, moderate or intense. In the 6th revised edition of “The Nutrient Requirements of Horses” (NRC, 2007), there are four categories for exercising horses: light exercise, moderate exercise, heavy exercise and very heavy exercise. Light exercise is described as 1 to 3 hours/week of mostly walking and trotting. Many horses kept for recreational riding would be included in the light exercise category. Moderate exercise […]

A mechanistic model that predicts nutrient requirements and biological values of feeds for sheep (Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System; CNCPS-S) was expanded to include goats and the name was changed to the Small Ruminant Nutrition System (SRNS). The SRNS uses animal and environmental factors to predict metabolizable energy (ME) and protein, and Ca and P requirements. Requirements for goats in the SRNS are predicted based on the equations developed for CNCPS-S, modified to account for specific requirements of goats, […]

Initial success in sperm cryopreservation occurred at about the same time for aquatic species and livestock. However, in the 50 plus years since then cryopreserved sperm of livestock has grown into a billion-dollar global industry, while cryopreserved sperm of aquatic species remains a research activity with little commercial application despite work in more than 90 species and more than 200 published reports. Most research work has focused on large-bodied culture and sport fishes, such as salmon, trout, carp, and catfish, […]