ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate commercially purified essential oil compounds to assess molecule-specific effects when applied as additives to rehydrated corn grain silage (RCGS). Dry ground corn grains were rehydrated to 350 g/kg moisture and packed (>1,000 kg/m3) in 5-L plastic buckets. Treatments were prepared as a factorial arrangement of two storage lenghts (30 and 60 d) × fifteen strategies (compound × application rate), being: control RCGS; carvacrol at 200, 600 and 1,000 mg/kg fresh matter (FM); cinnamaldehyde at […]

ABSTRACT This study evaluated increasing dietary levels of Black wattle bark extract (BWE) on broiler performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal histopathological score, and bone quality. A total of 240 male Cobb 500 broilers, eight days old, were distributed into five dietary treatments (0, 300, 500, 700, or 900 mg kg−1 BWE) in a randomized block design, housed in metabolic cages, with eight replicates of six birds each. Performance was evaluated from 8 to 28 days of age, nutrient digestibility from 18 […]

ABSTRACT The experiment aimed to assess the impact of exogenous protease in diets formulated with soybean meal (SBM) or black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) on nutrient retention and broiler performance. Forty-eight female Ross 308 chicks were assigned to a randomized block design study using a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, with four treatments in total. The main factors considered were the protein source and the presence or absence of protease. Each experimental diet was fed to six pens of […]

ABSTRACT This paper aims to describe and evaluate FiT, a software that streamlines the process of analysing animal growth curves. It is characterized as a web-based software, developed using the Python and R languages, that adjusts the parameters of the classical nonlinear models Brody, Von Bertalanffy, Logistic and Gompertz. These parameters are estimated using the nlsLM function from the minpack.lm package of R. For model comparison, FiT calculates the mean square of the residuals, coefficient of determination, Akaike information criterion, […]

ABSTRACT Mothers must allocate limited resources between raising their offspring and maintaining their own biological functions. In both wild and livestock populations, food availability fluctuates with climate, soil fertility, and rainfall, challenging mothers and calves when environmental quality declines. This study evaluated whether maternal investment is influenced by progeny sex and environmental conditions, using coefficients of variation as a measure of evolvability. We analyzed three pre-weaning growth traits in cattle: birth weight (BW), body weight at 120 days (BW120), and […]

ABSTRACT This study investigated the diet of laying hens containing selenium in organic, inorganic, and Se-Met complex encapsulated with chitosan was investigated in order to enrich eggs and their oxidative stability. The microencapsulation process was performed using two molecular weights of chitosan (150 and 250 kDa) and the ratio of chitosan to Se-Met (1:1.5 and 1:2) in order to achieve the best encapsulated selenium according to evaluation of particle size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency. Subsequently, 450 Hy-Line W36 laying […]

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate whether the beef cattle production system enhances the commercial value of beef carcasses. We assessed which characteristics of the production system most significantly influence the carcass grade and consequently the value generated, using a database from a commercial property analyzed through mixed factor analysis. The dataset included information on 3,612 cattle slaughtered commercially from a property in Mato Grosso do Sul in 2019. Qualitative explanatory variables considered were breed, sex, type of finishing, slaughterhouse, […]

ABSTRACT Five bagger configurations were evaluated for their effects on physical characteristics, fermentation, and starch degradability in corn (Exp. 1) and sorghum (Exp. 2) grain silages. Both experiments were conducted using five treatments, involving baggers with different nominal power ratings (60, 75, and 90 hp; designated as M-60, M-75, and M-90). The treatments consisted of the following configurations: M-60 equipped with a standard roll; M-75 and M-90 equipped with intermediate and coarse rolls for corn; and fine and intermediate rolls […]

ABSTRACT The use of digital technologies and wearable sensors has advanced in precision livestock farming. However, there is still no clear definition of the most suitable models for the use of sensors in grazing animals, especially under tropical systems. Thus, we aimed to compare the performance of six predictive models for grazing cattle behavior and to evaluate different testing strategies. The study was conducted in a pasture area, using nine Tabapuã heifers monitored by triaxial accelerometers attached to the nape, […]

ABSTRACT Three experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of the following commercial inoculants: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, and L. buchneri (LP+LB) at 2.5 × 105 CFU g−1; as well as L. rhamnosus, L. buchneri, and L. diolivorans (LB+LD) at 2.5 × 105 CFU g−1; and the same inoculants at double dosage (2LB+2LD) at 5.0 × 105 CFU g−1. In Exp. 1, corn silage was uninoculated and inoculated with LP+LB and LB+LD and stored in 5-L jars for 15, […]

ABSTRACT The study evaluates the impact of feeding the same amount of corn grain at different times on animal production, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. At weaning, 60 steers (176 kg) were divided into six groups assigned to one of two dietary treatments (n = 3). In dietary treatment one (DT1), steers grazed an endophyte-free tall fescue pasture to 330 kg of LW and then (Phase-3) were fed a corn grain-based diet for 90 d before slaughter. In dietary treatment […]