Parboiled rice bran in japanese quail diets at growing phase and residual effect at laying period

Rice is the second largest cereal crop in the world and the by-products resulting from rice processing for human consumption are potential feedstuffs to compose poultry diets. In this sense, it was evaluated the influence of parboiled rice bran (PRB) in diets for Japanese quails in growing phase on the performance and digestibility, besides of residual effects and characteristics of egg quality in laying phase. A total of 324 Japanese quails with 7 days of age were distributed in a completely randomized design, with 6 treatments and 6 replicates of 9 birds. The treatments consisted of 6 isonutritives diets, being a control diet without PRB and the others containing 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%. At the end of growing phase the birds were allotted in cages and fed the same diet without PRB at laying phase. At growing phase, the inclusion of PRB up to 5% promoted linear reduction in dry matter and gross energy digestibilities of diet; however a linear increase in metabolizable energy was noted. Feed intake, weight gain and final weight were reduced but not altering feed:gain ratio and body composition. At laying phase, the inclusion of PRB increased the age at first egg production but no influence was verified at age to reach 50% of egg production. No effect was verified at laying percentage, feed intake, weight and egg mass and feed:gain ratio. In economical evaluation, the inclusion of up to 25% of parboiled rice bran provided best economical indexes. The inclusion of PRB Japanese quails diets at growing phase can be recommended in levels up to 25%, without incurring future losses at laying phase

Clay Fraction Mineralogy and Structural Soil Attributes of Two Soil Classes under the Semi-Arid Climate of Brazil

Mineralogical studies are incipient and necessary in the Apodi Plateau, Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the interrelationship between the mineralogy of the clay fraction and its structural and chemical attributes and to differentiate two important pedo-environments in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil (Ferralsol and Cambisols of the Apodi Plateau-RN) using the multivariate technique. We evaluated the interrelationships between mineralogy and the structural and chemical attributes of the soil and differentiated between agroenvironments. We collected soil samples from six profiles in diagnostic horizons of the Ferralsols and Cambisols. In the mineralogical analysis of the clay fraction, X-Ray Diffraction was used to identify mineral peaks of clay and iron oxides. The physical and chemical properties of the soils were determined. The multivariate statistical technique was applied to process the data. The clay minerals identified were hematite, goethite, kaolinite, and illite. The principal component analysis allowed for the separation of environments according to soil density, Fed and Mg2+ for developed soils, and potassium, weighted average diameter, microporosity, total organic carbon, sodium, the sum of bases, calcium, total porosity, aeration, potential acidity, and Feo discriminated developing soils. This study revealed that the clay fraction influenced the structural attributes of the soil according to the degree of soil development. Two profiles presented atypical situations: High contents of crystallized iron in Cambisols and illite peaks in Ferralsolos. These mineralogical results are not commonly found in the literature, highlighting the potential for further studies. The answers concerning the mineralogy of semiarid soils in Brazil and the world show similarity