Resumo em Inglês:

Fifty Najdi ram lambs weighing an average of 38.1±0.5 kg were utilized in this study to determine the effects of feed restriction level with or without subsequent realimentation on lamb performance and carcass composition. Lambs were allotted randomly and equally into five groups. The groups were fed a control diet ad libitum; two groups fed 0.90 and 0.80 of ad libitum intake throughout the eight-week period of the trial (R), and two groups fed 0.90 and 0.80 of ad libitum intake for a six-week period followed by two weeks of realimentation (RR). All lambs were slaughtered after eight weeks of experimentation. Average daily gain (ADG) for the 0.90 and 0.80 ad libitum groups decreased by 7.6 and 26.9% during restriction, whereas the lambs during realimentation period had 35 and 30.5% faster ADG and 27.5 and 21.8% better feed:gain ratios than the control, respectively. At the end of the trial, final, empty and hot carcass weights and overall ADG of the 0.90 ad libitum RR group did not differ from control. Feeding performance values of the 0.80 ad libitum R group were the lowest among the treatments. The studied feed restriction regimens depressed the weights of empty stomach, tail fat, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat; however, two weeks of realimentation were not enough to induce complete weight recovery in these tissues. The 0.90 ad libitum RR restriction routine can be adopted as a nutritional management practice for fattening Najdi lambs.

Resumo em Inglês:

The experiment was conducted to assess the effect of substituting corn for soybean hulls on the apparent digestibility of nutrients, carcass performance and characteristics, and yield of cuts of 25 non-castrated male Santa Ines lambs with an initial body weight of 20±2 kg, at approximately 6 months of age, sheltered individually in stalls (1.10 × 1.0 m), considering a totally randomized design, fed 600 g/kg of forage and 400 g/kg of concentrate. Soybean hulls replaced corn at 0, 250, 500, 750, and 1,000 g/kg of dry matter. The intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), NDF corrected for ash and protein (NDFap), total carbohydrates (TC), non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) in g/day, and the digestibility of NFC increased linearly with the soybean hull replacement. Crude protein intake displayed a quadratic response, whereas the intake of EE in g/day, the apparent digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF, ADF, NDFap and TC, TDN, average daily gain, carcass characteristics, and yield of cuts were not affected by the soybean hull levels. Soybean hull substitution increased the intake of DM and nutrients, making it possible to replace up to 1,000 g/kg of dry matter in the diets for confined sheep, as it does not compromise performance, digestibility, carcass characteristics, or yield of cuts when used in sheep nutrition.

Resumo em Inglês:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the mobilization of nutrients in goats of different gestation types and pregnancy stages. Forty-four Saanen and Oberhasli goats were studied. The goats of each breed and gestation type (single or twin) were slaughtered at different gestational ages (80, 110, and 140 days of pregnancy), forming a completely randomized design in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial arrangement (two breeds, three gestational ages, and two types of pregnancy). The slaughter procedure involved separating the empty body, mammary glands, uterus with membranes and fetal fluid, and fetus(es). For the females slaughtered at 140 days of pregnancy, blood was collected to analyze metabolites and hormones every 15 days during gestation. The dry matter (DM) intake was lower in goats with twin pregnancies. The relative daily retention rate of the nutrients in the body was positive at 100 days of pregnancy but became negative at 140 days (-0.18±0.25 g DM kg-1 of maternal body d-1) and did not differ with breed or number of fetuses. Fetal growth in twin pregnancies was 66% higher than in single pregnancies. The highest levels of ß-hydroxybutyrate and non-esterified fatty acids were observed beginning at 100 days of gestation. Serum total protein and albumin levels decreased after 125 days of gestation. Serum urea levels were reduced after 80 days of gestation. Plasma 17ß-estradiol levels increased with the advance of pregnancy, and IGF-1 was highest between 60 and 80 days of gestation. The maternal metabolism throughout pregnancy does not vary with the type of pregnancy, and pregnant goats need greater nutritional intake during the final third of the gestational period regardless of the breed or type of pregnancy.

Resumo em Inglês:

This study evaluated the effects of organic and inorganic sources of minerals in diets for mid-lactation dairy cows on milk yield and composition, intake and total apparent digestibility of dry matter and nutrients, blood parameters, microbial protein synthesis, and energy and protein balances. Twenty Holstein cows averaging 146.83±67.34 days in milk and weighing 625.30±80.37 kg were used. The experimental design was a crossover. Diets were composed of corn silage (50%), ground grain corn, and soybean meal, differing with regard to the sources of trace minerals, plus an organic and inorganic mix. The organic mineral source increased milk fat and fat-corrected milk yield without changing milk yield, intake, or total apparent digestibility. Blood parameters, microbial protein synthesis, and energy and protein balances were not affected by the sources of minerals. Organic sources of minerals improve milk fat yield without affecting other parameters.

Resumo em Inglês:

Protein supply and requirements by ruminants have been studied for more than a century. These studies led to the accumulation of lots of scientific information about digestion and metabolism of protein by ruminants as well as the characterization of the dietary protein in order to maximize animal performance. During the 1980s and 1990s, when computers became more accessible and powerful, scientists began to conceptualize and develop mathematical nutrition models, and to program them into computers to assist with ration balancing and formulation for domesticated ruminants, specifically dairy and beef cattle. The most commonly known nutrition models developed during this period were the National Research Council (NRC) in the United States, Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in the United Kingdom, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia. Others were derivative works from these models with different degrees of modifications in the supply or requirement calculations, and the modeling nature (e.g., static or dynamic, mechanistic, or deterministic). Circa 1990s, most models adopted the metabolizable protein (MP) system over the crude protein (CP) and digestible CP systems to estimate supply of MP and the factorial system to calculate MP required by the animal. The MP system included two portions of protein (i.e., the rumen-undegraded dietary CP - RUP - and the contributions of microbial CP - MCP) as the main sources of MP for the animal. Some models would explicitly account for the impact of dry matter intake (DMI) on the MP required for maintenance (MPm; e.g., Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System - CNCPS, the Dutch system - DVE/OEB), while others would simply account for scurf, urinary, metabolic fecal, and endogenous contributions independently of DMI. All models included milk yield and its components in estimating MP required for lactation (MPl) and calf birth weight and some form of an empirical, exponential equation to compute MP for pregnancy (MPp). The MP required for growth (MPg) varied tremendously among the original models and their derivative works mainly due to the differences in computing growth pattern and the composition of the gain. The calculation of MCP differs among models; some rely on the total digestible nutrient (TDN; e.g., NRC, CNCPS level 1) intake to estimate MCP, while others use fermentable organic matter (FOM; e.g., INRA, DVE/OEB), fermentable carbohydrate (e.g., CNCPS level 2, NorFor), or metabolizable energy (ME; e.g., ARC, CSIRO, Rostock). Most models acknowledged the importance of ruminal recycled N, but not all accounted for it. Our Monte Carlo simulation indicated the prediction of most models for required MPl overlapped, confirming uniformity among models when predicting requirements for lactating animals, but a large variation in required MPg for growing animals exists.