Production and quality of meat from hair sheep grazing on Tanzania grass and supplemented with different protein levels

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a supplementary feeding (with different crude protein (CP) levels) in the yield and growth performance and meat characteristics of hair lambs grazed on Tanzania grass. Design/Methodology/Approach: A 120-d-1 experiment was conducted; it included four treatments and seven replications in a completely randomized design. Twenty-eight hair lambs (22.6 ± 1.6 kg LW) were allowed to graze on Tanzania grass (Panicum maximum) and were provided concentrate feeds (with 10, 12, 14, and 16% crude protein). The aim was to assess the effects of the latter food on growth, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. Results: Compared with the lambs fed with 10, 12, and 14% CP, the heaviest carcasses (P<0.05) were obtained from lambs fed with 16% CP. The percentage of crude protein and fat of the biceps femoris linearly increased (P<0.05) as the CP percentage increased in the concentrate feed. Meat color, water retention capacity, and cutting force were not impacted by the CP percentage of the concentrate feeds. Compared with the lambs fed with 10, 12, and 14%, the lowest palmitic acid percentage and the highest oleic acid percentage were found in the meat of lambs fed with 16% CP. Study Limitations/Implications: A high area was selected to avoid excessive rain. Findings/Conclusions: Compared with the lambs fed with 10, 12, and 14% CP, the lambs grazed on Tanzania grass and supplemented with 16% CP grew more, recorded a higher carcass yield, and their meat had a better unsaturated fatty acids ratio

Rendimiento y valor nutritivo del pasto mulato (Brachiaria hibrido, 36061) en respuesta al pastoreo: Performance and nutritive value of mulato grass (Hybrid brachiaria, 36061) in response to grazing

El objetivo de esta investigación fue determinar el rendimiento de materia seca (RMS), tasa de acumulación neta de forraje (TANF), y valor nutritivo del pasto mulato (VNPM), a diferente manejo de pastoreo en diferentes épocas del año. Los tratamientos se distribuyeron aleatoriamente en un diseño de bloques al azar con arreglo factorial 3 x 2, con tres repeticiones (Frecuencias: 14, 21 y 28 días; Intensidad de pastoreo: 9 a 11 y 13 a 15 cm.  El pasto mulato presentó mayor acumulación de forraje, aparición de tallos y recambio de tejido foliar en la época de lluvias y nortes. Con pastoreo cada 28 días, a intensidad de 13-15 cm se obtuvo mayor acumulación de forraje (6732 kg MS ha-1), TANF (47 kg MS ha-1 dia-1) y altura de planta (35 cm), con una proporción de hojas y tallos de 5197 y 1473 kg MS ha-1, que propició una disminución en la relación hoja:tallo y una tasa de crecimiento foliar de 4.8 cm tallo-1 dia-1). Al ampliar el intervalo de pastoreo de 14 a 28 días, disminuyó la aparición y densidad de tallos (p<0.05) y aumentó el peso de este (p<0.05), en este sentido la MS digestible y el contenido de PC disminuyeron. En la época de seca no presentó síntomas de marchites y conservo un color verde en sus hojas, lo cual se observó en el crecimiento foliar. En conclusión, se debe pastorear cada 21 d a una intensidad ligera, en época de lluvias, nortes y secas cada 28 d

Meat production and quality of rabbits fed different diets and a biological activator

Objective: Evaluate the effect of four diets on the productive performance of rabbits, carcass yields, meat color and pH. Design/methodology/approach: Thirty-two California breed rabbits were randomly assigned to each of the following diets: “commercial feed” alone; “commercial feed + biological-activator”; “alfalfa forage + biological activator” and “integral feed + biological-activator”. In the animals were evaluated: daily weight gain (DWG), feed conversion (FC), daily feed intake (DFI), body weight (BW), empty body weight (EBW) and carcass yields. In the meat were determined: pH, luminosity, red color and yellow color. Means were compared using the Duncan test (α = 0.05). Results: The commercial feed diets showed (P < 0.05) higher DWG, DFI, BW and EBW than he other diets. The “commercial feed + biological-activator” diet produced (P < 0.05) in general, higher carcass weights and yields than the alfalfa-based diet, which produced (P < 0.05) a higher pH and yellow color in the meat than the “commercial feed alone” diet. Study Limitations/Implications: The feeding of the rabbits by adding the biological-activator improves the performance, the color of the meat and the pH. Findings/conclusions: to add the biological-activator into the commercial feed improves the yield of empty body weight; to add it into the alfalfa forage and compare it with the commercial feed (alone or with activator) improves both the color of meat (making it more yellow) and the pH (making it higher)