Resumo em Inglês:

The objective was to evaluate intake and digestibility of nutrients, as well as milk production and composition of the milk from F1 Holstein × Gyr cows kept on pasture, supplemented with sugarcane and concentrate (28% CP). Five cows with 150±14 lactation days and average milk production of 7.1±2.1 kg/day were distributed in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The treatments were: soybean meal-based concentrate; soy bean-based concentrate; ground soybean-based concentrate; roasted soybean-based concentrate; and ground, roasted soybean-based concentrate. Dry matter (DM), organic matter, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total carbohydrates and total digestible nutrients intakes were not affected by the diet, but ether extract intake was higher for the animals fed soy bean-based diets than those fed soybean meal. The digestibility of DM, NDF and CP did not differ. The corrected milk yield differed between treatments; animals on the treatment with soy bean-based concentrate had the lowest production in relation to the others, which did not differ from each other. There was no difference between treatments for milk composition. Thus, soybean meal can be replaced by ground soy beans or roasted soy beans (ground or whole) in diets for low-yield cows reared on Brachiaria decumbens pastures with no harm to milkproduction or composition. Therefore, the use of these alternative raw materials is recommended whenever their inclusion represents lower feeding costs.

Resumo em Inglês:

The effect of the substitution of Tifton hay (0, 33, 66, 100 g/100 g) for pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) stubble hay was evaluated in the characteristics of the carcasses of goats of an unknown breed (UB) in feedlot. Thirty-two bucks with an average initial live weight of 17.5±1.3 kg, at approximately 150 days of age, were housed in individual stalls provided with feeding and drinking troughs. The animals were distributed in a completely randomized design with four treatments and eight replications. There was a quadratic effect on the weights of hot carcass and cold carcass, empty body, and loin eye area. A linear increase was observed for losses by carcass cooling. The weights of commercial cuts and the weights of total muscle, total bone, intramuscular fat, and total fat decreased linearly. All morphometric measurements were influenced by the inclusion of pineapple stubble hay in the .diets. Substitution of Tifton hay for pineapple stubble hay at the level of 33 g/100 g improves the carcasses of UB goats qualitatively and quantitatively

Resumo em Inglês:

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of alternative true-protein sources to soybean meal, with different ruminal degradability, using a sugarcane-based diet, on nutrient digestion, ruminal fermentation, efficiency of microbial protein synthesis and passage rate in prepubertal dairy heifers. Eight crossbred rumen- and duodenum-cannulated Holstein × Gyr dairy heifers (202.0±11.5 kg BW) were evaluated in a 4 × 4 Latin square experimental design with four treatments and four periods in two simultaneous replicates. Dietary treatments were: soybean meal; cottonseed meal; peanut meal; and sunflower meal. When associated with diets containing sugarcane, the different protein sources did not affect intake or digestibility of dry mater, crude protein, organic matter and neutral detergent fiber. The average ruminal pH, NH3-N and concentration of total volatile fatty acids were not different among the diets supplied. The concentration of butyric acid was different among the protein sources, wherein the animals fed the diet with sunflower meal presented lower values than those fed the other sources. Diets did not affect nitrogen balance, microbial nitrogen, microbial synthesisefficiency, estimated dry matter flow, or passage rate. Alternative protein sources can be used to reduce the costs without changing the animal metabolism.

Resumo em Inglês:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of forage cactus with different fiber sources (elephant grass hay - EGH; corn straw - CS, hay of cassava shoots - HCS; fresh sugarcane bagasse - FSB; and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse - HSB) on the milk yield and composition and the feeding behavior of lactating Sindhi cows. Five cows with average body weight, average daily milk yield, and average daily 4%-fat-corrected milk yield of 265, 4.95 and 5.22 kg, respectively, were used in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The effect of experimental diets on milk yield and composition, feeding time (FT), rumination time (RT), idle time, mean values of total chewing time (TCT), number of ruminal boli (NRB), number of rumination chews (NRC), and feed efficiency (FE) and rumination efficiency (RE) expressed as a function of DM and NDF were analyzed. Milk yield in kg/day and corrected to 4.0% fat from the animals that received cactus associated with CS were higher as compared with the treatment with hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse. The milk composition variables were not influenced by the treatments, and nor were FT, RT, TCT, NRB and NC. Two patterns were observed for FE and RE, with higher efficiency of the diets with EGH, CS and HCS and lower efficiency for diets containing sugarcane bagasse. In this context, Sindhi cows fed forage cactus associated with corn straw, elephant grass hay, and hay of cassava shoots present better performance, feeding efficiency, and rumination responses than those fed forage cactus associated with fresh sugarcane bagasse and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse.

Resumo em Inglês:

The objective of the present study was to characterize the food sources, as well as the composition and quality of milk obtained from household farms of western Paraná State (Brazil) with and without technical assistance during the different seasons. For such, 24 properties were selected, 12 of which only received assistance and technical support. Four milk samples were taken (summer, autumn, winter and spring) to assess the physicochemical composition, somatic cell count and total bacterial count and feed supplied to the animals to assess the chemical composition (crude protein, ash, dry matter and neutral detergent fiber). The data were analyzed in a completely randomized design with a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement; the first factor was the presence and absence of technical assistance and the second factor was the four seasons of the year. Due to the dairy tradition of properties in the region, technical assistance had no significant effects on the health and nutritional quality of food, the number of animals, the production, or total bacterial count, which suffered oscillations only depending on the seasons of the year. However, the presence of assistance contributed to reducing somatic cell counts of milk produced and marketed. The technical assistance does not affect the quality of forages and concentrates used or the milk composition; however, it improves the sanitary quality of the milk produced throughout the four seasons of the year in household farms of western Paraná.