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Background: Mastitis is an inflammatory disease of the mammary gland, mostly associated with bacterial infections. It is responsible for great economic losses due to decreased milk yield, discarded milk, milk composition alterations and treatment costs, besides it impairs the animal health and welfare. The rumination time is an important behavioral marker and its assessment can be used as an early diagnosis tool, which can improve cure rate. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity of behavior monitoring system collars in the diagnosis of mastitis and the average rumination time (RT) of Holstein cows during the healthy period and affected by the disease.Materials, Methods & Results: The study was conducted on a commercial property located in the municipality of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The RT data from 39 multiparous Holstein cows with an average milk yield of 38.4 L/day was collected. RT monitoring was performed using C-Tech1 collars combined with CowMed® software, which assess behavior data from the animals and emits warning signals when it finds abnormalities in any parameter. In order to verify whether the animals were determined correlated with diseases, the sensitivity of the data was evaluated, when the system had given the alert to animals considered ill, they underwent to a further clinical evaluation performed by a veterinarian to confirm the diagnosis. From the diagnosis, the cows were divided into subclinical mastitis (SM) and clinical mastitis (CM) groups. SM was detected by the Californian Mastitis Test (CMT) and cows that were graded 1 (++), 2 (++) or 3 (+++) without the presence of any other clinical sign were assigned to the SM group. CM was assessed by observation of abnormalities in milk such as changes in color and consistency, as well as the presence of lumps, clots or blood; and clinical examination of the udder was performed for detection of hot, hard, swollen or painful quarters. Thereafter, variations in the mean RT between the healthy (15 days) and sick periods (days when there was an alert) were evaluated. For the identification of the etiological agents involved in the cases of CM, microbiological cultures were performed on Accumast® plates with milk samples, which were incubated at a temperature of 37°C and the diagnosis of the pathogens were performed after16 h of incubation. During the study, 57 cases of mastitis were observed, 42 were SM and 15 were CM. The sensitivity of the system, which is the ability to detect positive cases of the disease, was 73.8% for SM and 73.3% for MC. The RT of the animals were compared individually during the healthy period with the sick period and it was observed that SM reduced the RT by 5.33% whereas MC reduced the RT by 14.9%.Discussion: The maximum RT values were lower during the disease period in relation to the period in which the animals were healthy, for both SM and CM, which is due to the fact that the disease is responsible for causing inappetence in animals, among other clinical signs, therefore, reducing feed consumption. The lowest variation in RT, between the healthy and sick period, was observed in cases of SM, which was already expected, since the clinical form tends to cause more discomfort to the animals. As for the main etiological agents involved in the clinical condition, Streptococcus agalactiae and S. uberis were detected. In view of the above, the evaluation of the mean RT of multiparous dairy cows was efficient in the predictive diagnosis of SM and CM up to 2 days before the onset of the disease. In addition, the variability of this result demonstrated that animals with subclinical cases presented less fluctuation in RT.

A utilização de aditivos na alimentação dos animais vem com o objetivo de melhorar a flora e o pH ruminal, aumentar a eficiência e a atividade dos microrganismos do rúmen. As condições do ambiente ruminal influenciam a flora microbiana e com isso a digestão dos alimentos. A levedura Saccharomyces cerevisae atua no controle dos parâmetros ruminais, tendo benefício sobre a digestão animal, melhora na fermentação ruminal, produção de leite, comportamento ingestivo, proporção de ácidos graxos de cadeira curta, redução de amônia, aumento da população microbiana e estabilização do pH e estes benefícios aumentam o desempenho produtivo dos ruminantes.

This study examines rumen-fluid parameters and the biochemical profile of feedlot sheep supplemented with a commercial product composed of yeast culture and enzymatically hydrolyzed yeast during an abrupt change of diet. Eight sheep at 30 months of age, with an average weight of 40.2 ± 3.4 kg, were housed in individual stalls where they received the same diet twice daily, which was formulated according to the National Research Council [NRC] (2007). The animals were divided into two groups, namely, supplemented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SG, n = 4) and control (CG, n = 4). The experiment consisted of three periods: the first (seven days) consisted of an acclimation to the roughage-only diet; in the second period (five days), the animals of SG started to receive supplementation; lastly, in the third period (five days), all animals underwent a sudden change of diet, which was characterized by an alteration from 100% roughage to a 50:50 ratio (roughage:concentrate) without prior adaptation. Blood samples were collected to evaluate albumin, aspartate amino transferase, calcium, gamma glutamyl transferase, globulins, glucose, magnesium, potassium, sodium, total plasma proteins and urea. Rumen fluid was harvested to evaluate physical aspects. Supplementation increased the protozoa count; the rate of sedimentation and fluctuation remained within the physiological parameters; and total plasma proteins and globulin decreased. Therefore, the yeast appears to be a promising alternative for reducing the deleterious effects of an abrupt change of diet.

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Os taninos são compostos fenólicos presentes em plantas, classificados quanto à estrutura química em compostos hidrolisáveis e condensados. Os condensados são adicionados à dieta de ruminantes devido a sua capacidade de formar complexos com proteínas tornando-as não degradáveis no ambiente ruminal. Dessa forma, aumenta o aporte proteico no intestino delgado onde ocorrerá a maior absorção na porção cranial do órgão, o duodeno. A vantagem desse mecanismo é aumentar o aproveitamento da proteína da dieta pelos animais o que influenciará na produtividade e sistema imunológico, entre outros. Os efeitos positivos com a utilização desse composto como aditivo nutricional ainda precisam ser estudados, portanto, o objetivo dessa revisão consiste em demonstrar os resultados, até então conhecidos, da utilização de taninos condensados na dieta de ruminantes.

A partir da hipótese de que novilhas da raça Girolando pertencentes a dois grupos de constituição genética distintas tornam-se púberes em momentos diferentes, o presente projeto objetiva a identificação e a caracterização da puberdade nesses animais para aumento na eficiência da produção leiteira. Foram selecionadas 61 novilhas da raça Girolando, sendo 18 animais 3/4 e 43 5/8 de composição genética Holandes e Gir (CG) inicialmente com idade entre cinco e 12 meses. A cada 21 dias, se avaliava o trato reprodutivo e a atividade ovariana, as medidas corporais e o peso dos animais. Ao final do experimento, os dados coletados foram submetidos a análise estatística para avaliação dos resultados e pode-se concluir que não há diferença considerável acerca da puberdade de novilhas Girolando 3/4 e 5/8. Dentre as características avaliadas no momento da ovulação (altura de cernelha, garupa, distância entre os ílios, entre os ísquios, peso e idade), somente distância entre os ísquios e área da pelve apresentaram diferença estatística entre as duas CG.

Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents were evaluated in pressurized and unpressurized conditions using samples of roughage and concentrates. In summary, the samples were dried, processed in a knife mill, weighed in nonwoven bags (100g/m²), placed in a container and treated with neutral or acid detergents. Extractions of NDF and ADF content were carried out in a non-pressurized condition at temperature of 100°C for 60min and in pressurized condition using different temperatures of 100 and 110°C for 60min. Results of the different temperatures using the pressurized procedure were compared to those obtained with the pressurized through the linear regression analysis. The method with the temperature 110°C for 60 min had a high level of agreement. Was not observed a bias potential of proportion (P>0.05). There was not a systematic inclination of the methods to overestimate or underestimate errors. This methodology can be carried out with roughage and concentrate feedstuffs simultaneously.