The aim of this study was to verify the influence of the animal density on the weight gain and behavior of confined lambs. 86 animals were confined after weaning in 23 pens of two lambs each (double pens) and four pens of ten animals each (collective pens). During the 80 days of confinement all lambs received the same diet and the animals were weighed at the beginning of the trial and every 14 days for the control of the weight gain. The behavioral patterns were recorded by focal sampling method using a time sampling of 30 minutes, from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, for 4 days. The behavioral variables were: posture (standing; lying), activity (eating; ruminating; leisure; drinking water; grooming) and events (nid-nodding; pushing; picking up; bellowing; mounting; defecating; urinating). For the evaluation of the weight gain and behavior of the animals an analysis of variance and multiple comparison procedure by Student t test was used. The average weight gain was higher for pen animals (0.228 kg/day) compared to the animals housed in the collective pens (0.208 kg/day; P = 0.07). A higher percentage of animals housed in double pens remained standing compared to the animals housed in collective pens at 8:30 am (P < 0.05), 11:30 am (P < 0.01), 2:30 pm (P < 0.01), 4:30 pm (P < 0.01), and 5:30 pm (P < 0.01). For the eating activity, it was observed that 6.9% more animals kept in the double pens remained in this activity at 8:30 am (P < 0.05) and 4:30 pm (P < 0.05), than in collective pen. No statistical difference was found for the other activities and events between treatments. The number of animals per group influenced the behavior of confined lambs, changing the pattern of food intake which could improve the weight gain.

RESUMO Baseado no conceito de que cavalos equilibrados possuem simetria entre suas regiões anatômicas, o objetivo deste trabalho foi introduzir um método de avaliação do equilíbrio de equinos atletas por meio de proporções corporais. Foram mensuradas doze medidas lineares, utilizando INTRODUÇÃOConsiderado o cavalo mais versátil do mundo, o Quarto de Milha tornou-se nos últimos anos uma das principais raças dentro do mercado brasileiro de equinos. Esses animais são adaptáveis as mais diversas modalidades esportivas, com merecido destaque às provas de velocidade, como a de três tambores.Assim como todos os bons atletas, o Quarto de Milha deve apresentar uma adequada conformação corporal, equilíbrio e simetria, independente da função a que se destina (HEDGE, 2004). A conformação é defi nida por THOMAS (2005) pela maneira em que as partes do corpo do animal são dispostas, se relacionam e funcionam. Segundo o mesmo autor, determina como um cavalo se move e quão bem ou mal seu corpo pode suportar os efeitos da movimentação.

ResumoAvaliou-se o efeito dos aditivos a base de própolis e monensina sódica sobre o comportamento ingestivo (pastejo -PAS, ruminação deitado -RDE, ruminação em pé -RPE, ruminação -RU, ócio deitado -ODE, ócio em pé -OPE, ócio -OC, andando -AND, postura em pé -PE, postura deitado -DE e consumo de suplemento e água -CSA) de novilhas em pastejo de capim Tifton 85. Os tratamentos avaliados foram: ausência de aditivo (AAD); própolis -PRO (33,24 mg animal -1 de flavonóides totais em apigenina); e monensina sódica -MON (100 mg animal -1 ). Foram utilizadas cinco novilhas tratamento -1 para o ensaio do comportamento ingestivo durante 12 horas de avaliação total por dia, o qual foi dividido em três períodos de avaliação. Foi utilizado um delineamento em fatorial 3 x 3 para avaliação do comportamento ingestivo em função dos períodos de avaliação. Foram utilizados três piquetes de 2,9 hectares de capim Tifton 85. Os aditivos e o suplemento mineral (50 g animal -1 ) foram veiculados juntamente com 200 g de grão de milho moído fornecido às 17 horas. Para todas as atividades dos comportamentos ingestivo foram observados o efeito de período sobre os tempos despendidos nas diferentes atividades. As atividades de PAS e CSA foram maiores no terceiro período avaliado (15horas às 19horas) em relação ao primeiro período (7horas às 11horas). Para a atividade OC e DE, foi observado maior tempo expresso em minutos para as novilhas do tratamento com PRO no período das 7horas às 11horas, em relação aos demais tratamentos (AAD e MON). Desta maneira, conclui-se que a utilização de aditivo a base de própolis possibilita a substituição a monensina sódica para novilhas mantidas a pasto sem alterar o comportamento ingestivo além de propiciar maior período ócio durante o dia sem alterar o desempenho animal. Palavras-chave: Ócio, pastejo, ruminação, suplementação AbstractWe evaluated the effect of additives the basis of propolis and monensin on ingestive behavior (grazing -GRA, rumination lying -RLY, rumination in foot -RFO, rumination -RUM; idleness lying -ILY, idleness in standing -IDS, idleness -IDL, walking -WAL, posture standing -POS, posture lying -PLY, intake of supplement and water -ISW) of heifers in Tifton 85 grazing. The treatments were: no additive (NAD); propolis -PRO (33.24 mg animal -1 of total flavonoid in apigenin), and monensin -MON (100

This work aimed at characterizing the thermal balance of Nellore cattle from the system of indirect calorimetry using a facial mask. The study was conducted at the Animal Biometeorology Laboratory of the São Paulo State University, Jaboticabal, Brazil. Five male Nellore weighing 750 ± 62 kg, at similar ages and body conditions were distributed in four 5 × 5 Latin squares (5 days of records and five schedules) during 20 days. Physiological and environmental measurements were obtained from the indirect calorimetry system using a facial mask. Respiratory parameters, hair coat, skin, and rectal temperature were continuously recorded. From this, metabolic heat production, sensible and latent ways of heat transfer were calculated. Metabolic heat production had an average value of 146.7 ± 0.49 W m and did not change (P > 0.05) over the range of air temperature (24 to 35 °C). Sensible heat flow reached 60.08 ± 0.81 W m when air temperature ranged from 24 to 25 °C, being negligible in conditions of temperature above 33 °C. Most of the heat produced by metabolism was dissipated by cutaneous evaporation when air temperature was greater than 30 °C. Respiratory parameters like respiratory rate and ventilation remained stable (P > 0.05) in the range of temperature studied. Under shade conditions and air temperature range from 24 to 35 °C, metabolic heat production, respiratory rate, and ventilation of mature Nellore cattle remain stable, which is indicative of low energetic cost to the thermoregulation.

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a b s t r a c tThis study aimed to identify the parameters related to the expression of the reactivity in horses during handling and based on that proposed and validated a scale of composite measure reactivity score to characterize horse's reactivity. To this end, the first stage (S1) proposed the scale and the second (S2) validated it. In S1, 364 Lusitano horses were evaluated, 188 were adult breeding mares (4-12 years old), and 176 were foals (males/ females, aged from 2 months to 2 years). During hooves trimming, vermifuge application, palpation scores were assigned to behaviors of movement, ears and eyes position, breathing, vocalization, and urination. A response parameter called reactivity was attributed to each animal, ranging from score 1 (nonreactive/calm) to score 4 (very reactive/ aggressive). The verification of the possible parameters (age, behavior), which explains the response parameter (reactivity), was taken using ordinal proportional odds model. Movement, breathing, ears and eyes position, vocalization, and age appear to explain the reactivity of horses during handling (P < .01). Therefore, based on these parameters, it was possible to propose two scales of composite measure reactivity score: one to characterize the mares and another the foals. On S2, the proposed scale was validated by the simultaneous application of Forced Human Approach Test, another commonly used test to evaluate the reactivity in horses, with a correlation of 0.97 (P < .05). The assessment of the reactivity of horses during handling by a composite measure reactivity score scale is valid, and easy to apply, without disrupting daily routine and override the impact of individual differences.

The literature is very sparse regarding research on the thermal equilibrium in Guzerat cattle (Bos indicus) under field conditions. Some factors can modify the physiological response of Guzerat cattle, such as the reactivity of these animals to handling. Thus, the development of a methodology to condition and select Guzerat cattle to acclimate them to the routine collection of data without altering their physiological response was the objective of the preliminary experiment. Furthermore, the animals selected were used in the main experiment to determine their thermal equilibrium according to the thermal environment. For this proposal, the metabolic heat production and heat exchange between the animal and the environment were measured simultaneously in the field with an indirect calorimetry system coupled to a facial mask. The results of the preliminary experiment showed that the respiratory rate could demonstrate that conditioning efficiently reduced the reactivity of the animals to experimental handling. Furthermore, the respiratory rate can be used to select animals with less reactivity. The results of the main experiment demonstrate that the skin, hair-coat surface and expired air temperature depend on the air temperature, whereas the rectal temperature depends on the time of day; consequently, the sensible heat flow was substantially reduced from 70 to 20Wm(-2) when the air temperature increased from 24 to 34°C. However, the respiratory latent heat flow increased from 10 to 15Wm(-2) with the same temperature increase. Furthermore, the metabolic heat production remained stable, independent of the variation of the air temperature; however, it was higher in males than in females (by approximately 25%). This fact can be explained by the variation of the ventilation rate, which had a mean value of 1.6 and 2.2Ls(-1) for females and males, respectively.

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