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This study aimed to evaluate the intake, digestibility, ingestive behaviour, productive performance, rumen fermentation and carcass yield of lambs fed diets with Parkia platycephala pods (PP) replacing ground corn. For this, twenty-eight castrated male lambs (18.34 ± 4.81 kg, 120 days of age), were distributed in randomised blocks with 4 treatments and 7 replicates. Four diets were formulated replacing ground corn with PP (0, 33, 66, and 100%) on a roughage: concentrate ratio of 30:70 on a dry matter basis. The feedlot period lasted for 60 days, and the animals were slaughtered consecutively. The replacing of ground corn with PP reduced the intakes of ether extract and metabolisable energy, digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fibre, total digestible nutrients, isovalerate, and omental + mesenteric fat, while it increased the digestibility of non-fibrous carbohydrates, carcass finishing, and the yields of rumen, reticulum, and omasum (p < 0.05). A quadratic effect was observed for the time of chews per rumen bolus, number of rumination chews per day, number of rumination chews per bolus, and number of rumination chews per minute, propionate (p = 0.002), butyrate (p < 0.01) and total short chain fatty acids (SCFA) (p < 0.05) according to the increase in PP levels replacing ground corn in diets offered to lambs. The rumen pH was reduced and the NH3-N increased according to the evaluation period (p < 0.05). The highest concentration of total SCFA was observed in the collection carried out at 09 h (p < 0.05). The use of up to 100% PP in diets offered to lambs is recommended as it provides nutrient intake, weight gain, and carcass yield similar to ground corn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to evaluate the effect of the use of a non-forage diet in feeding finished sheep in a feedlot regarding intake, nutrient digestibility, performance, ingestive behavior, and cost analysis with feed. The experiment was performed in a completely randomized complete block, with two treatments and eight blocks per treatment. The treatments were the control diet (30 of hay and 70% of concentrate, dry matter (DM) basis, normally used in the finishing system in Brazil) and the non-forage diet (100% concentrate). Animals fed non-forage diets had lower nutrient intake and metabolizable energy (ME) intake. Even though the animals that received a non-forage diet presented lower intake of DM, organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP), there was no effect (p < 0.05) for the digestibility coefficients of these variables between diets. The time spent in rumination, total chewing, and idleness also decreased (p < 0.05) when lambs were fed a non-forage diet, due to the decreased DM intake. The profit margin value of US$10.395/animal reached by sheep fed the control diet was higher than the profit margin obtained by sheep that received the non-forage diet (US$−3.974/animal). The non-forage (pelleted) diet led to lower bio-economic performance, and its exclusive use in sheep finishing is not recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate whether bacterial inoculation improves the fermentative, microbiological, and chemical characteristics of silages of the elephant grass cv. BRS Capiaçu on different regrowth days. The experimental design was completely randomized and set up in a 3x2 factorial arrangement (three regrowth days, with and without inoculant), with four replications. There was a significant interaction between the regrowth days and inoculant on the pH, ammoniacal nitrogen (N-NH3), and effluent losses (EL) of the silages. Inoculation decreased the EL with the advance of regrowth days and increased the dry matter recovery index compared to the silages without inoculant. The population of molds and yeasts decreased when inoculation was adopted to the forage harvested after 85 d. There was a significant interaction between the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein (NDFap) contents of the silages. Inoculation in the grass harvested after 85 d increased the DM contents of the silage. The highest CP contents were observed in the silages after 85 d. The NDFap contents of the grasses harvested after 110 and 135 d were higher than those of the grass harvested after 85 d. The NDFap contents of the silages without inoculant increased with the harvest age. The BRS Capiaçu forage silage harvested at 110 d demonstrated favorable performance for silage production. However, the influence of inoculant use was low for the characteristics evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]