Fermentation losses and aerobic stability of elephant grass silages with inclusion of 4 levels of Parkia platycephala pod meal (PP) (0, 10, 20 and 30 %) and 2 levels of urea (0 and 1.5 %) on as-fed ...basis were evaluated. The silages were analyzed for gas and effluent losses, dry matter recovery (DMR), pH and aerobic stability (pH and temperature) to determine effects of interactions between levels of urea and PP on gas losses, dry matter recovery, temperature and pH of the silages. The combination of urea and PP increased gas losses and reduced the DMR. PP reduced effluent losses and urea increased aerobic stability of the silages. pH values decreased with inclusion of PP and increased with use of urea. Silages containing 20 and 30 % PP showed greater stability over time, especially when associated with urea. PP with urea were effective in reducing effluent losses, maintaining DMR and allowing higher aerobic stability, with stability rupture from 40 h with the inclusion of 20 % of PP in elephant grass silages.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the silage produced with different mixtures of melon biomass with urea used as an additive. It adopted a completely randomized design in a 5 × 2 factorial ...scheme with five replications. The first factor was made up of five mixtures on an as-fed basis (AF) of the melon, including plant (branch and leaf) and fruit (culled melon, after harvest), where the amount of fruit varied as follows: 0% fruit, 5% fruit, 10% fruit, 20% fruit, and 100% fruit. The second factor was represented by the use of urea in the silage as follows: 0% and 1.5% urea AF. The highest silage dry matter (DM) content (200 g/kg DM) was observed in the silage with 20% fruit. Regarding the crude protein, the highest content (69.8 g/kg DM) was found in the silage with the addition of urea. The highest loss through the gas (GAS) was observed in the silages with 0% and 100% fruit (0.6 and 1.13%), with no addition of urea. The silages made with melon biomass and the addition of 20% and 100% fruit showed differences regarding the fermentative pattern, chemical composition, and aerobic stability, thus being the most indicated mixtures for silage making.
Currently, there is no use for melon plant biomass in agriculture and animal feeding. Using this biomass as silage provides a more sustainable production system. Thus, the objective of this study was ...to evaluate the silage produced with different mixtures of melon plant biomass and ground corn. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial scheme (5 × 2) with five replications. The treatments consisted of five mixtures of melon plant biomass between the plant (branch + leaf) and the fruit (melon scrapings) in amounts of 0% fruit, 5% fruit, 10% fruit, 20% fruit, and 100% fruit on an as-fed basis and ground corn in amounts of 0% and 5% AF of the ensiled biomass. The greatest dry matter contents were found in silages with corn and 0 and 5% fruit, which were 225.6 g/kg and 235.2 g/kg, respectively. The highest concentrations of acetic acid were found in the silages with 0% fruit without corn and 20% fruit with ground corn and were 10.96 and 10.00 g/kg DM, respectively. The use of melon fruit biomass with 0%, 5%, and 100% fruit is the most suitable for silage making, and adding ground corn improves silage quality parameters.
The objective of this study was to obtain different dry matter contents and proportions of melon plant biomass for silage making. A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (3 × 2) and ...four replications was adopted. The first factor consisted of three melon biomass mixtures based on as-fed composition of plant (branches + leaves) and harvested melon (fruits)—100% plant (0% fruit), 90% plant + 10% fruit, and 100% fruit. The second factor corresponded to the ensiled material, which was either fresh or dehydrated in the field after harvest (40% dry matter). Silages produced from dehydrated biomass after fruit harvest, containing 0% and 10% fruit, showed the highest dry matter contents: 297 g/kg and 293 g/kg, respectively. Silages produced from fresh biomass containing 0% and 10% fruit showed high concentrations of acetic acid, reaching 14.9 g/kg and 14.1 g/kg, respectively. Silages produced from dehydrated biomass containing 10% and 100% fruit showed better results in terms of the indicators associated with high-quality silage. Dehydration improves the fermentative profile and overall quality of melon silage.
Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar a utilização do feno de maniçoba (Manihot glaziovii Muell. Arg.) em diferentes níveis (30, 40, 50 e 60%) sobre os consumos e as digestibilidades de matéria seca ...(MS), matéria orgânica (MO), proteína bruta (PB), energia bruta (EB), extrato etéreo (EE), carboidratos totais (CT), carboidratos não-fibrosos (CNF), fibra em detergente neutro (FDN) e fibra em detergente ácido (FDA) e os consumos de água e nutrientes digestíveis totais (NDT). Utilizaram-se oito cabras da raça Moxotó, multíparas, com aproximadamente 60 dias de lactação, pesando 44,26 ± 4,23 kg, em delineamento quadrado latino duplo 4 × 4, com quatro tratamentos, quatro períodos e quatro animais. Cada período teve duração de 15 dias (10 de adaptação dos animais às dietas e 5 para coleta de dados). Utilizou-se a fibra em detergente ácido indigestível (FDAi) como indicador interno para estimativa da produção de matéria seca fecal. A utilização do feno de maniçoba nos níveis de 30, 40, 50 e 60% nas dietas para cabras em lactação não alterou os consumos de MS, MO, PB, EE, MM e CT. Os consumos de CNF, NDT e água diminuíram linearmente com o aumento no nível de feno de maniçoba nas dietas, enquanto os de FDN e FDA (kg/dia, %PC e g/kg0,75) aumentaram linearmente. A digestibilidade aparente de MS, MO, PB, EE, CT, CNF, EB e FDA reduziu linearmente, enquanto a da FDN não se alterou com o aumento dos níveis de feno na dieta.
This research was conducted with the objective of evaluating the use of different Maniçoba hay (Manihot glaziovii Muell. Arg) levels (30, 40, 50 and 60%) on intake and apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), gross energy (GE), ether extract (EE), total carbohydrates (TCHT), non fiber carbohydrates (NFC), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), water intake (WI), besides total digestible nutrients intake (TDNI). Eight multiparous Moxotó dairy goats with initial weight of 44,26 ± 4,23 kg were assigned to two 4 × 4 Latin squares design, with four treatments, four experimental periods and four animals. Each experimental period lasted 15 days (ten days for animal adaptation to diets and five days for feed, refusal and feces collection. Indigestible acid detergent fiber (iADF) was used as an internal marker to estimate fecal dry matter yield. The use of Maniçoba hay in the levels (30, 40, 50 and 60%) in diets did not affect the DM, OM, CP, EE, MM, and TCHT intakes. The NFC, TDN and water intakes decreased linearly with the increase of dietary hay levels while NDF and ADF (kg/day; %BW and g/kg0.75) intakes increased linearly. The apparent DM, OM, CP, EE, CHT, NFC, GE and ADF digestibility decreased linearly while the NDF digestibility was not affected with the increase in the dietary hay levels.
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Parkia platycephala pod meal (PP) on feeding behavior, rumen health, blood markers, and physiological responses in lactating goats. ...Eight apparently healthy, adult, multiparous Anglo-Nubian goats, with an average body weight of 42.06±3.5 kg and approximately 52±4 days in lactation, were randomly assigned into two Latin squares (4×4) composed of four levels of PP (0, 33.3, 66.7, and 100% of dry matter) for four periods. Daily feed intake, feeding behavior, rumen health, blood markers (hemogram and biochemical parameters), and physiological responses (rectal temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and sweating rate) were assessed. Intake, feeding efficiency, and rumination efficiency were not affected by the replacement of ground corn with PP. At these replacement levels, the goats significantly spent more time feeding and ruminating. There was a significant decrease in the number of chews (number/day and number/min) with an increase in PP inclusion. Rectal temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and sweating rate were higher in the afternoon for the three periods measured. There were no negative changes in blood markers or rumen health with the use of PP. The current findings indicate that PP can be used to replace up to 100% of the corn in the diet of lactating goats without causing significant changes in animal health, feeding behavior, or physiological parameters.
The objective was to evaluate the fermentation parameters, chemical composition and in situ degradability of sesame silage in comparison to usual silages. The losses, fermentation quality and ...chemical composition of the forages and silages were evaluated using a completely randomised design with four treatments (sesame, corn, millet and sunflower) and four replicates per treatment, the silages were produced in experimental silos. In-situ degradability was evaluated using a completely randomised design with four treatments and three replicates (animals) per treatment. The results were statistically evaluated by analysis of variance and Tukey's test with a level of 5% of probability. Three rumen fistulated non-castrated Santa Inês rams were used. Sunflower and corn silages presented higher percentages of losses through gases (p = .0256). Millet silage presented higher losses by effluent (p < .0001). The dry matter recovery (p < .0001) ranged from 70.0 to 96.5% for sesame and corn silage, respectively. The dry matter content (p = .0002) in the silages ranged from 280.0 to 429.4 g kg
−1
. The sesame silage presented loss amounts and fermentation parameters similar to those found in corn and sunflower silage. Sesame silage showed moderate dry matter (DM), content, excellent crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) contents, and low lignin content. Corn silage presented higher concentration of the soluble fraction of DM (p < .0001). The sesame silage presented a high degradability rate of DM and it was similar to corn and millet which have great nutritional potential for ruminants feeding. Sesame has the potential to produce quality biomass and silage for animal feeding.
highlights
The sesame can be an option for silage making.
Sesame helps to ensure sustainability by promoting lower seasonal risks in this region through the usage of silage as feed for the animals.
Sesame also increases the productivity of livestock throughout the year, through the availability of feed for the herd mainly during the dry season of the year.
The cactus pear has demonstrated productive potential in arid and semi-arid regions due to its photosynthetic process of crassulacean acid metabolism. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate agronomic ...characteristics and chemical composition of three genotypes of cactus pear at different locations of a tropical semiarid region classified as non-suitable for cactus pear cultivation. A completely randomized design in a factorial arrangement (3 × 7) (three genotypes of cactus pear Miúda, Baiana (Nopalea cochenillifera) and Orelha de Efefante Mexicana - OEM (Opuntia stricta) and seven locations) was used. The climatic conditions characterized an environment that restricts the growth of cactus pear genotypes, mainly due to the air relative humidity values. All morphological characteristics of the cactus pear genotypes were influenced by the interaction genotype x location, with higher expression of the characteristics on the different genotypes under hot semi-arid climate and tropical wet and dry climate. An effect of the interaction genotype x location was observed (p < 0.05) on water use efficiency, water accumulation and carrying capacity, where the highest values were observed for genotype Baiana at location 1. Also, there was influence of the interaction genotype x location over the chemical composition of the cactus pear. The cultivation of cactus pear is recommended under restricted climatic conditions in semi-arid tropical regions, especially the genotype Baiana, based on growth factors, biomass production and chemical composition.
ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the buriti oil (Mauritia flexuosa L.) inclusion levels (0, 15, 30, and 45 g kg−1 in dry matter) replacing ground corn on the feeding behavior, as well as ...physiological and hematological variables of crossbred lactating Anglo Nubian goats. Eight Anglo Nubian goats were used, which were distributed in a double 4 × 4 Latin square experimental design (four periods and four levels of buriti oil) replacing corn in the total dry matter. For the evaluation of feeding behavior, single animals were observed every ten minutes for 24 h on three days. Respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), rectal temperature (RT), and sweating rate (SR) of the animals were evaluated in the morning (09:00 h) and in the afternoon (15:00 h). Blood samples were always taken in the morning, before feeding, by puncturing the jugular vein for the complete blood count and white blood cell count. The levels of buriti oil had no effect on feeding, rumination, idling time, water intake, defecation and urination, DM intake, feed efficiency, and rumination efficiency of DM and NDF, but had effects on NDF intake. Physiological variables (RT, SR, RR, and HR) in both periods of the day were not influenced by the inclusion of buriti oil. However, SR and RR were higher in the afternoon than in the morning. In erythrocyte, results showed that the hematocrit and mean corpuscular volume increased with the inclusion of buriti oil. Hemoglobin, red blood cell count, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and total plasma protein were not affected by the inclusion of buriti in the goat diet. The inclusion of buriti oil is recommended in up to 45 g kg−1 (DM basis) as a replacement for ground corn in diet of lactating goats without affecting the feeding behavior and physiological and hematological variables.