F. B. L. Mendes

Análise econômica da adição de níveis crescentes de concentrado em dietas para vacas leiteiras mestiças alimentadas com cana-de-açúcar

Sixteen crossbred Holstein × Zebu cows (groups from ½ to ¾ of Holstein × Zebu) at third of fourth lactation were allotted to four 4 × 4 Latin squares to evaluate the economical viability of increasing dietary concentrate level. Cows presented previous milk yield from 2,500 to 3,000 kg, adjusted for 300 days, and grazed pasture during the rainy season, and with 110 days of laction in the beginning of the experimental period. Because of the prices of milk and concentrate during the experiment, it is not interesting to use concentrate in the diets of milk cows fed sugar cane. If the productive and economical aspects toghther and the prices of R

Crude glycerin in supplement to primiparous lactating cows grazing on tropical pasture: nutritional and productive characteristics

0.70 and R

Ingestive Behavior of Heifers Supplemented with Glycerin in Substitution of Corn on Brachiaria brizantha Pasture.

0.50 for the milk and the concentrate, respectively are considered, the use of 24% concentrate in the diet is the most interesting option for dairy cows fed sugar cane.

Comportamento ingestivo de novilhas leiteiras alimentadas com níveis de farelo de cacau (Theobroma cacao) na dieta

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional and productive characteristics of primiparous lactating cows grazing on tropical pasture, using different levels of crude glycerin in the supplement. The experiment was conducted at Rancho Santana farm, located in Jequie city, Bahia, Brazil, in the period from December 21, 2010 to March 16, 2011. Ten ¾ Holstein × ¼ Dairy Gyr lactating primiparous cows, with 109±24 days of lactation and a mean age of 30±6 months and mean body weight of 426.2±68.29 kg were distributed into five treatments, using two simultaneous 5 × 5 latin squares. Treatments consisted of inclusion levels (0, 94, 191, 289, 389 g/kg dry matter basis) of crude glycerin in the supplement. Intake, digestibility, milk production and composition were measured. Results were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and regression at 0.05 probability. For all consumption variables no significant differences were found between the levels of crude glycerin. Except for the digestibility of ether extract, all digestibility values were similar between treatments. The fat content and yield showed quadratic effect between treatments. No significant differences were observed for protein, lactose, total solids, nonfat dry extract, fat:protein ratio, milk urea nitrogen and somatic cell count between treatments. For primiparous lactating cows grazing on tropical pasture, up to 389 g of crude glycerin/kg of dietary supplement can be included without nutritional and productive interference.

Correlation between intake and ingestive behaviour of confined Holstein-Zebu crossbred heifers.

The objective was to evaluate the ingestive behavior of crossbred heifers finished on a Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu pasture receiving four levels of glycerin in their supplementation. Thirty-six crossbred heifers with average initial weight of 264.83±3.83 kg and 20 months of age were distributed into a completely randomized design with four treatments and nine replications: control (0%), 4.82%, 10.12%, and 15.56% glycerin in the dry matter. The grazing time reduced linearly (p<0.05), whereas the time spent on activities like rumination, idleness, trough and total chewing time were quadratically affected (p<0.05). Bite rate and number of bites/day were quadratically influenced (p<0.05). The number of bites/swallowed cud and the number of bites/minute, however, increased linearly (p<0.05). Although the time spent on each cud and number of chews per cud were not affected (p>0.05). The number of rumination periods reduced linearly (p<0.05), whereas the number of grazing, idle and trough periods, and the times per grazing, idle, rumination and trough periods were quadratically affected (p<0.05). The feed and rumination efficiencies of the dry matter, non-fibrous carbohydrates, pasture dry matter and concentrate were quadratically affected (p>0.05) whereas the feed efficiency of neutral detergent fiber reduced linearly (p<0.05). Addition of glycerin in substitution of corn in supplements for animals managed on pastures does not influenced feed intake, but reduces the grazing time and increases the idle time. The supplementation also improves feed and rumination efficiencies.

Fatty acids intake and deposition in the Longissimus of Nellore steers supplemented at pasture.

The objective was to evaluate the ingestive behavior of dairy heifers fed different cocoa meal levels. Twenty ¾ Gir x ¼ Holstein dairy heifers, with 165.5 ± 35.8kg of body weight, were used. The animals were distributed in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and five repetitions, receiving diets composed by elephant grass silage as the roughage and concentrate with increasing levels of cocoa meal. The intakes were evaluated, and also their feeding and rumination efficiencies. To determine the ingestive behavior, the heifers were submitted, in the last day of the experimental period, to visual observation, at each five minutes, during 24 hours. The dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, non- fiber carbohydrates and total digestible nutrients intakes were not influenced by cocoa meal inclusion levels in the diet. The time spent feeding, ruminating and in idle did not differ among treatments, neither did the number of periods and the time spent in each period with the respective activities. The time per ruminated bolus, chewing number per bolus, number of ruminated bolus per day and total chewing time were not affected by the diets. The non-fiber carbohydrates feeding efficiency had increasing linear effect as cocoa meal was included in the diet. The inclusion of up to 21% of cocoa meal in the total diet did not alter negatively the ingestive behavior of dairy heifers.

Correlations between production and economic variables in dairy cows on a tropical pasture

The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between variables referring to feed intake and behaviour of confined Holstein-Zebu crossbred heifers. The experiment was conducted at the dairy Original Research Article Silva et al.; AJEA, 6(1): 15-21, 2015; Article no.AJEA.2015.060 16 unit of the Southwest Bahia State University, campus Itapetinga, Brazil. Sixteen 3⁄4 Holstein x 1⁄4 Zebu heifers with average of 12 months old and initial weight of 150 kg were randomly distributed into four treatments, with four repetitions. A moderate positive correlation was observed between feeding time and NDF and NFC intake variables. The feeding efficiency of NDF was highly correlated with DMI. The variables referring to time of feeding, rumination and boluses per day were observed to be highly correlated with the intake variables, thus showing great potential to draw up predictive equations.

Correlação entre comportamento ingestivo e consumo de nutrientes em vacas a pasto

The aim of this work was to study the correlation between intake and deposition of fatty acids in the Longissimus muscle of Nellore steers supplemented at pasture. The fieldwork was implanted in an area of 52 ha, formed of Brachiaria brizantha. Forty Nellore steers with initial average weight of 373.7 ± 14.9 kg and 26 months of age were used. The animals were distributed into four treatments: Control= T00 (supply only mineral salt), T03= Supply of concentrate in the amount of 0.3 % of Body Weight; T06= Supply of concentrate in the amount of 0.6 % of Live Weight , T09= Supply of concentrate in the amount of 0.9 % of live weight. Samples of concentrates and forages were collected for fatty acids analysis. The experiment lasted for 98 days. After this period the animals were slaughtered. Longissimus samples were vacuum packed and frozen for analysis of fatty acid composition. The results were statistically analyzed by estimating Pearson linear correlation coefficients. The results showed that there are correlations between the fatty acids consumed and fatty acids deposited in the muscle.

Feeding behavior of categories of feedlot-finished beef cattle

The objective of this study was to evaluate correlations between production and economic variables of lactating cows on a tropical pasture. The experiment involved ten ¾ Holstein × ¼ Dairy Gyr cows in the middle third of lactation at an average age of 70 ± 4.6 months and an average body weight of 400 ± 55.2 kg. Cows were supplemented with a concentrate feed with different supplement compositions aiming to promote alterations in the animal performance and economic responses. Data were analyzed statistically by Pearson correlations at the 0.95 probability level. No correlations were observed for fat and total solids with economic variables (p > 0.05). Milk yield was positively correlated with (p 0.05). There were no correlations for milk yield with RC, FC, or MRR (p > 0.05). Positive correlations were observed for fat corrected milk yield with GRSM and RMSC (p < 0.05). Fat production (kg day ‒ 1 ) was positively correlated with GRSM and RMSC (p < 0.05). The gross revenue from the sale of milk and the revenue minus feed costs showed to be highly associated with production variables.

Correlation between intake and feeding behavior of Holstein calves fed diets supplemented with pellets and mash.

Objetivou-se avaliar as correlacoes lineares entre comportamento ingestivo e consumo alimentar em vacas a pasto. O experimento foi desenvolvido na fazenda Paulistinha, no municipio de Macarani-BA. Cada unidade experimental foi composta por uma vaca mestica Holandes x Zebu de terceira ou quarta lactacao, com peso corporal medio de 454,7 ± 54,51 kg, e producao anterior entre 2.500 e 3.500 kg, ajustada para 300 dias, totalizando 64 repeticoes, distribuidas em delineamento inteiramente casualizado. O tempo de pastejo, ruminacao, alimentacao total, taxa de bocado e numero de bocados por dia nao apresentaram correlacoes com nenhuma das variaveis do consumo em vacas a pasto. O tempo alimentacao no cocho (COC) apresentou correlacoes positivas com consumo de materia seca (CMS), fibra em detergente neutro (CFDN), nutrientes digestiveis totais (CNDT), proteina bruta (CPB) e carboidratos nao fibrosos. Observou-se uma correlacao negativa entre o tempo de ocio (OCI) com CMSF e o CFDN. O tempo de mastigacao total (TMT) apresentou correlacoes positivas com o CMSF e CFDN em vacas a pasto. O numero de periodo de pastejo (NPP) apresentou correlacoes positivas com o consumo de materia seca (CMS) e fibra em detergente neutro (CFDN). O numero de periodo de ruminacao (NPR) apresentou correlacoes positivas com o CMS e CFDN. O numero de periodo de outras atividades (NPO) apresentou correlacoes positivas com o CMS, CNDT, CPB, CCNF. O tempo de periodo de pastejo (TPP) nao apresentou correlacoes com nenhuma das variaveis de consumo. O tempo de periodo de ruminacao (TPR) correlacionou-se negativamente com o CMS, CPB e CCNF. O tempo de periodo de outras atividades (TPO) correlacionou-se negativamente com CMS, CMSF, CFDN, CNDT, CPB E CCNF. O consumo de nutrientes de vacas a pasto obteve poucas correlacoes com o comportamento ingestivo, com excecao do tempo de alimentacao no cocho, que apresentou correlacoes de moderada a alta entre o consumo de nutrientes.