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The aim of the research was to evaluate the productive and reproductive performances of ewes as a function of the supplementation offered to suckling lambs. The lambs were divided into two experimental treatments. Treatment (1) suckling lambs kept in pastures of Brachiaria-grass receiving mineral supplementation; and treatment (2) suckling lambs kept in pastures of Brachiaria-grass receiving concentrate supplementation in creep-feeding. Regardless of the nutritional treatment offered to the lambs, all matrices (female lambs and ewes) received 350 g of supplementation daily. Ewes from treatment-1 presented average 49 days to return to estrus. Ewes from treatment-2 presented, on average, 36 days to return to estrus. The body condition score (BCS) at weaning showed a significant difference between treatments. Ewes from treatment-1 presented a mean BCS of 1.75. Ewes from treatment-2 presented a mean BCS of 2.39. The other productive variables of lambs, such as weaning weight (kg), age at weaning (days), total weight gain (kg), and average daily gain of lambs, presented a significant difference between the nutritional treatments. Variables such as return to estrus and BCS were positively influenced by supplementation offered to lambs, which directly impacts the production efficiency and profitability of the production system. The lamb supplementation promotes indirect gains in the body condition score of ewes at weaning and, consequently, in the time to return of estrus in 13 days. Protein-energy supplementation in creep feeding to suckling lambs is recommended to improve the body condition score at weaning and decrease the return to estrus (days) of ewes. This nutritional tool is recommended to improve the supply of leaves and provide the best conditions for the selection and use of nutrients present in the leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study was to evaluate the lambs' performance in the suckling and finishing phases in different nutritional systems. The study was carried out in two phases: suckling (from birth to weaning) and finishing (from weaning to slaughter). Each phase was evaluated in two experimental periods (characterized by year). The suckling phase used 76 lambs divided into two groups: control (without supplementation) and creep feeding (with creep feeder supplementation of 20 g/kg of body weight). The lambs were distributed in the treatments according to sex and type of delivery (single or twin). The finishing phase was characterized from weaning to slaughter. Sixty-two lambs were used, 28 females and 34 males, average age of 85 days and an average weight of 19 kg, and the animals were distributed in treatments according to weight and sex. Five treatments were evaluated, animals in Brachiaria spp. receiving increasing levels of supplementation (0%, 0.8%, 1.6%, and 2.4% of BW) and confinement as a positive performance control. The creep feeding treatment presented superior performance with an average daily gain of 64.85 g more than the control treatment, which anticipated the shorter age at weaning with higher weaning weight (weaning in 64 days for supplemented lambs and 77 days for animals without supplementation). In the finishing phases, the lambs of the treatments 1.6%BW and 2.4%BW presented average daily gain similar to the confined animals and higher (p<0.05) than the treatments 0.8%BW and 0%BW. We recommend that ad libitum supplementation of creep feeding during the suckling phase is a nutritional strategy to wean heavier lambs and consequently reduce time in the finishing phase. For fattening the lambs, we recommend the inclusion of proteinenergy supplementation of 1.6% BW for lambs produced in the tropical pasture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propolis can be an alternative to the use of ionophores in ruminants due to presence of compounds like flavonoids, fenolic acids, esters, fenolic aldehydes and ketones. In this study the impact of solid residue from alcoholic extraction of brown propolis (RBP) added to the diet for feedlot lambs on nutrients intake and digestibility, productive performance, body morphometric measures, carcass characteristics and meat fatty acid profile was determined. Twenty-four Texel × Suffolk crossbred castrated male lambs (19.83 ± 2.07 kg) were fed diet with 0 (negative control), 5, 10 g RBP per kg dry matter (DM) or monensin (positive control, 26 mg/kg DM), in total ration with roughage:concentrate ratio of 400:600 (w/w). RBP addition regardless used dose positively influenced (P < 0.05) productive performance parameters (final weight and daily weight gain). However, diet with 5 g RBP/kg DM lowered feed conversion ratio in comparison to negative control. Nutrient intake, digestibility of DM (684 g/kg), organic matter (701 g/kg) and fibre (695 g/kg) were similar among treatments. Live body length (78.89 cm), external carcass length (75.4 cm) and carcass compactness (0.253 kg/cm) also did not differ between groups. Moreover, diet supplementation with RBP did not affect hot and chilled carcass yields (451 and 447 g/kg, respectively). The addition of 5 g RBP/kg DM caused lower concentration of stearic acid (C18:0) and higher of oleic (C18:1n-9) and linoleic acids (C18:2n-6) in longissimus muscle of lambs in comparison to muscle from animals fed diet with monensin or control one. So, RBP can be used as nutritional additive to lamb feed to increase animal performance and modify meat fatty acid profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to examine the nutritional efficiency of the balanced supply of flavonoids from the crude or ethanol extract of brown propolis on behaviour, productive performance and carcass traits of lambs in feedlot. Twenty four male lambs were divided into 4 groups (6 animals in each) and fed diet supplemented with: crude brown propolis [13 g/kg dry matter (DM)], propolis ethanol extract (15 ml/kg DM), sodic monensin (0.032 g/kg DM) - positive control, or diet without any enrichment (negative control). The basic diet was a total mixed ration with roughage:concentrate ratio of 500:500 (w/w). In animals receiving crude propolis (P < 0.05) DM intake was higher than in animals fed sodic monensin in the diet. The use of feed additives did not affect feeding behaviour and lambs performance. Carcass yield was lower (P < 0.05) in lambs receiving diet with sodic monensin than in lambs fed diets with crude propolis. Also the propolis extract addition into diet decreased carcass yield in comparison to control group. Propolis addition altered the fatty acid profile of meat reducing saturated fatty acid content and increasing unsaturated one in comparison to control group. So, brown propolis supplementation can influence lamb carcass traits and meat quality; however the form of propolis is an important factor. The possible addition of propolis into animal feed can be important from human nutrition point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]