Desempenho de ovinos em confinamento recebendo dietas com torta de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum schum., sterculiaceae)

Esse estudo avaliou o efeito da inclusão da torta de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum Schum.) na alimentação de ovinos em confinamento. Foram avaliados o consumo (em kg dia-1, % PV e kg PV-0, 75), ganho de peso, conversão alimentar, medidas morfométricas da carcaça, características de carcaça, comportamento ingestivo e qualidade da carne. Foram utilizados vinte e cinco ovinos castrados, sem raça definida (SRD), com peso médio vivo inicial de 17,4 (±1,90) kg, mantidos em confinamento até que atingissem 35 kg de peso vivo (PV). As dietas experimentais eram compostas por 26 % de silagem de capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum, Schum) e 74 % de concentrado, composto de milho moído, farelo de soja, farelo de trigo, calcário calcítico e torta de cupuaçu, e consistiram na substituição do milho e do farelo de trigo pela torta de cupuaçu nos níveis 0 (controle), 7,4, 14,8, 22,2 e 29,6 % da matéria seca total. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com cinco tratamentos e cinco repetições.  A substituição dos alimentos padrões pela torta de cupuaçu não influenciaram (P>0,05) nas variáveis avaliadas, indicando que a torta pode ser utilizada em dietas para ovinos em confinamento em até 30 % da matéria seca total, sem comprometer consumo, características da carcaça e qualidade da carne

Effect of transportation distance and lairage time on selected behaviors and carcass parameters in zebu cattle—a study using the animal focal sampling method

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the transport distance and lairage time on behavioral indicators of zebu beef cattle in the resting pen of a slaughterhouse using the focal animal technique. Eight lots of male zebu cattle, Nelore, aged approximately 4 years old, weighing on average 500 ± 28.5 kg-1, from different municipalities, transported by land, were evaluated. The lots were grouped into two categories: short distance (> 500 km) and long distance (> 500 km). Five focal animals per evaluated lot were used in each cycle of behavior observation, randomly chosen, and visually identified. The animal focal sampling method was used, with instantaneous recording, every 5 min per animal/h. A video camera was used and placed at a fixed point in the corral. After slaughtering, bruises and carcass pH were evaluated. The respiratory rate (RR) was measured in two moments, 30 min after unloading (RR_I) and 1 h before slaughtering (RR_F); behavioral data were divided into four lairage periods (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th) equally and evaluated as repeated measures over time. The lairage time lowered the behaviors of headbutting (NCHBs), pushing (PsH), mounting (MT), and chasing away (CA), (p = 0.0001), and these behaviors were more evident in animals transported for short distances in the initial resting times, decreasing as they remained in the resting pen. There was effect of distance on the initial and final pH of the carcass, being greater in the short distance (p = 0.047). There was no effect of distance or lairage time on initial or final RR (p > 0.05). In addition, animals transported over long distances showed less carcass injuries, which were observed during post mortem inspection. It is concluded that animals transported over short distances present a greater number of agonistic behaviors, such as NCHBs, MT, PsH, and CA, predisposing to higher rates of bruising during lairage and more accentuated changes in the final pH of the meat

Effects of dietary palm oil supplementation on ruminal degradation and apparent digestibility of nutrients in sheep

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of palm oil on the ruminal environment and nutrient digestibility of sheep diets. Twenty rumen-cannulated sheep were kept in individual stalls equipped with feeding and drinking troughs The animals were fed five diets based on Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum. cv. Roxo) silage and supplemented with 0, 25, 50, 75, or 100 g kg-1 of palm oil (based on total DM). The Elephant grass was harvested at 90 days of regrowth and the concentrate was based on ground corn grain, soybean meal and mineral mix (20 g kg-1 DM), offered to the sheep at a ratio of 1.5 g kg-1d-1 of body weight (restricted intake) to maintain a forage-to-concentrate ratio of 1:1, based on DM. There were no differences (P = 0.324) in ruminal disappearance and degradability parameters with up to 75 g of oil per kg of DM. Organic matter showed a linear reduction in apparent digestibility, while ether extract increased linearly. Palm oil affected the digestibility and nutritional parameters in ruminant diets

Utilização de redes bayesianas através do algoritmo naïve bayes para classificação de carcaças de ovinos / Use of bayesian networks through the na dove bayes algorithm for the classification of sheep carcases

Este trabalho apresenta uma aplicação do algoritmo Naïve Bayes com capacidade para classificar carcaças ovinas usando duas classes de saída (conformac?a?o e acabamento). Por meio de diversos parâmetros, que são recolhidos a partir da mensurac?a?o das carcaças dos animais para determinar duas classificações: uma para conformação e outra para acabamento. Para fins de concretização deste trabalho, ale?m da aplicac?a?o do algoritmo Naïve Bayes, foi desenvolvido o software Frame Mining, responsa?vel por fazer as mensurac?o?es automatizadas dos animais. Tambe?m foi desenvolvida uma arquitetura que realiza cadastro de base de dados, ale?m de um algoritmo capaz de realizar converso?es de dados nume?ricos para nominais. Todos esses recursos foram fundamentais para a obtenção dos resultados e o algoritmo apresentou uma taxa de classificação adequada em vários exemplos durante os teste

Nutrient intake, digestibility, performance, carcass traits and sensory analysis of meat from lambs fed with co-products of Amazon oilseeds

Introduction:The increase in availability and nutritional composition of oilseed co-products has made it essential to study the use of this biomass.Methods:The objective of this work was to investigate the effects of including oilseed cakes on intake and digestibility, performance, carcass characteristics and meat sensory in feedlot lambs. Twenty-four crossbred Dorper × Santa Inês lambs, with initial body weight of 30 ± 1.3 kg, male, castrated, aged 4–5 months, were distributed in a completely randomized experimental design with four treatments (diets) and six replications (animals), confined in individual stalls for 70 days.Results:The inclusion of tucuma cake (Tuc) reduced dry matter intake (p < 0.01) and diets with cupuassu cake (Cup) and palm kernel cake (Palm) reduced dry matter digestibility (p < 0.05). The Tuc diet also provided the lowest final body weight (p = 0.02); lower average daily gain (p = 0.03); lower feed efficiency (p = 0.03) and lower carcass weight (p < 0.01). However, diets did not influence carcass yield (%), fat thickness (mm) and loin eye area (cm2; p > 0.05). Meat from lambs on the control diet was rated as less fibrous and more tender (p < 0.05).Conclusion:The inclusion of tucuma cake does not influence digestibility, but reduces intake, performance and influences carcass characteristics and meat texture. Diets with cupuassu cake or palmiste cake reduced digestibility, however, intake, performance and carcass characteristics were similar to the control diet

Methane emission, intake, digestibility, performance and blood metabolites in sheep supplemented with cupuassu and tucuma cake in the eastern Amazon

The use of co-products as a feed supplement for ruminants makes livestock sustainable and optimizes the use of available areas and animal performance. Furthermore, when cakes are used, the residual fat composition can influence ruminal metabolism and methane (CH4) production. This study aimed to assess the effects of a diet containing cupuassu (CUP; Theobroma grandiflorum) and tucuma (TUC; Astrocaryum vulgare Mart.) cakes on intake, digestibility, serum metabolites, performance, and CH4 emissions in confined sheep in the Amazon. Approximately 28 animals, Dorper-Santa Inês, castrated, with an average initial live weight (ILW) of 35 ± 2.3 kg, were distributed in metabolic cages, in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and seven replications: (1) Control (C40), without the addition of Amazonian cake and with 40 g of ether extract (EE)/kg of dietary dry matter (DM); (2) CUP, the inclusion of the CUP cake and 70 g of EE/kg; (3) TUC, the inclusion of the TUC cake and 70 g of EE/kg; and (4) Control (C80), without the addition of Amazonian cake and with 80 g of EE/kg of dietary DM, with roughage to concentrate ratio of 40:60. The use of the TUC cake as a feed supplement reduced the intake of DM, crude protein (CP), and EE compared to the inclusion of the CUP cake (p < 0.05); however, it increased the intake of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) by 32% (p < 0.01). The highest averages of DM (732 g/kg) and CP (743 g/kg) digestibility were presented in C40, while the highest digestibility of NDF was presented in TUC (590 g/kg). Albumin levels stayed above and protein levels were below the reference values, and the C40 diet also obtained below results for cholesterol, triglycerides and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) (P < 0.05). Sheep fed CUP (91 g) and TUC (45 g) had lower daily weight gains (DWGs) than those fed with diets without the inclusion of cakes (C40 = 119 g; C80 = 148 g), and feed efficiency (FE) was also lower in CUP (84) and TUC (60) diets than in C40 (119) and C80 (137) diets. CH4 emissions were lower in animals fed TUC (26 L/day) and higher in C40 (35 L/day); however, TUC resulted in higher CH4 emissions in grams/body live weight (BW) gain/day (353 g/BW/day) vs. 183 g/BW/day (C40), 157 g/BW/day (C80), and 221 g/BW/day (CUP). The supplementation with cakes did not improve intake, digestibility and performance, did not compromise blood metabolites and did not reduce the enteric CH4 emission in confined sheep in the Amazon; however, the use of CUP cake showed similar results to the control treatments and did not increase CH4 emissions, as occurred with the inclusion of TUC cake

Impact of rearing systems in the Eastern Amazon on cholesterol, β-carotene and vitamin E homologues in steer

IntroductionThe quality of meat, with a focus on compounds important for human health, is directly related to the rearing systems in which the animals are produced. The search for a balanced diet, with an emphasis on low cholesterol and adequate levels of vitamins, aligns with society’s emphasis on healthy eating, directly correlated with the importance of the offer made by producers for the cattle’s diet.Objective and methodologyThe objective was to verify the impact of different rearing systems, in the Eastern Amazon, during the rainy season, on the concentrations of vitamins (A, E) and cholesterol in the muscle (Longissimus lumborum) of crossbred Nelore cattle, castrated, aged between 24 and 36 months, and weighing between 410 and 628 kg. Twelve animals, from each of the three pasture rearing systems: native pasture in flooded areas of Monte Alegre; native pasture in a flooded area of Santa Cruz do Arari; and pasture cultivated on dry land in São Miguel do Guamá, all located in Pará, Brazil—were sampled in commercial slaughterhouses.ResultsA notable influence was observed in the concentrations of β-carotene (p < 0.01), α-Tocopherol (p = 0.02), β-Tocopherol (p < 0.01) and the combined sum of β-Tocotrienol and γ-Tocopherol (p < 0.01), as well as δ-Tocopherol (p < 0.01) when contrasting extensive with intensive systems (confinement). However, there was a difference in the content of vitamins and cholesterol between the isolated extensive systems, or between the four rearing systems (p > 0.05). Extensive systems, mainly in Monte Alegre, demonstrated greater amounts of α-Tocopherol and δ-Tocopherol.ConclusionOn the other hand, the intensive system exhibited higher levels of other investigated compounds, clarifying the nutritional variations generated by different livestock rearing practices in the region. Therefore, the results obtained are innovative in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil, in addition to inspiring the development of new research to meet other demands in this field, and achieve additional results, such as determining which meat, coming from cattle in production systems in the country, presents the better compositional quality of vitamins and lipids

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio