Alimentação de Codornas com Milho Moído e Ração de Postura no Período Pós-jejum Durante a Muda Forçada e Seus Efeitos Sobre o Desempenho Performance of Layer Quail Fed Corn Meal or Layer Diet During a Post Molt Period

O experimento foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar o desempenho de codornas poedeiras alimentadas por diferentes períodos com milho moído ou ração de postura durante sete dias após três dias de jejum, método de muda utilizado. Após esse período, as aves foram alimentadas com ração de postura durante as 20 semanas do período experimental. Utilizou-se um delineamento inteiramente ao acaso com três tratamentos (ração de postura por sete dias, ração de postura por três dias e milho moído por quatro dias e milho moído por sete dias), e quatro repetições de 24 aves por parcela. Os resultados mostraram que aves alimentadas apenas com ração de postura nos sete primeiros dias após o jejum apresentaram maior produção de ovos nas seis primeiras semanas do período de produção pós-muda. Porém, não foi constatado efeito de tratamento sobre a produção de ovos, peso dos ovos, consumo de ração e conversão alimentar durante as 20 semanas do período experimental.<br>The experiment was conducted to evaluate layer quails performance fed in different periods with corn meal or laying diet during a 7-day post-molt period. Following this, birds were fed laying diet during the experimental period of 20 weeks. The experiment followed a completely randomized design with three treatments (laying diet during 7 days; laying diet ration during 3 days + corn meal during 4 days or corn meal during 7 days) and three replications of 24 birds per pen. The results showed that quails fed laying diet during 7 days post-molt presented larger egg production during the first six weeks of production period than the others receiving corn meal. However there was no effect of treatments on egg production, egg weight, feed consumption and feed conversion during the experimental period of 20 weeks

Effect of the litter material on drinking water quality in broiler production

Considering the importance of drinking water and its effect on broiler performance, drinking water quality was studied using six different litter materials. The presence of coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli was investigated. The following litter materials were used in the trial: wood shavings, rice husks, chopped Napier grass (Pennisetum pupureum), 50% sugarcane bagasse (Saccharum L.) + 50% wood shavings, 50% sugarcane bagasse (Saccharum L.) + 50% rice husks, and plain sugarcane bagasse (Saccharum L.). A number of 1620 Ross® one-day-old chicks were reared in 54 pens measuring 4.5 m² each, equipped with a bell drinker and a tube feeder. Water samples were collected in sterile tubes on days 28 and 42 of the rearing period, and submitted to the laboratory for analyses. Microbiological data were organized by classes expressed in a logarithm scale, where the lowest contamination corresponds to class 1 and the highest contamination to class 4. Results showed that total coliform contamination was higher on day 28 than in the end of the rearing period, and that E. coli presence was detected during both analyzed periods. The litter materials that presented lower degree of water contamination, predominantly class 1, were sugarcane bagasse and 50% of sugarcane bagasse and 50% of rice husks