RESUMO.-[Análise hematológica comparativa de ovelhas Morada Nova e Santa Inês em todos os estágios reprodutivos.] A análise hematológica fornece informação confiável sobre a saúde dos animais. É uma variável importante na avaliação da capacidade adaptativa e produtiva das raças sob condições ambientais desfavoráveis. É uma avaliação que aliada a outros fatores genéticos, ambientais e de manejo pode se tornar cada vez mais útil para a sustentabilidade futura da agricultura convencional em um ambiente quente. A capacidade adaptativa é afetada por alguns fatores como raça, gestação e lactação. It is an important variable in the assessment of adaptive and productive capacity of breeds under unfavorable environmental conditions. It is an assessment that combined with other genetic and environmental factors and management can become useful for the future sustainability of mainstream agriculture in a hot environment. Adaptive capacity is affected by some factors such as breed, pregnancy and lactation. Therefore, hematological profile is an important indicator of animal health and production. The objective of this study was to perform the comparative hematological analysis of Santa Inês and Morada Nova breeds (native ewes from Brazil) in all different reproductive stages. Twenty Santa Ines and 20 Morada Nova sheep distributed in a completely randomized design in a split-plot arrangement over time were used. To obtain blood counts, blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture every 14 days, always in the morning, before the animals were released into the pasture. The Morada Nova breed had higher hemoglobin and total leukocyte count than Santa Inês breed. Regarding the influence of pregnancy and puerperium on the eritrogram, there was an increment in red blood cell, hemoglobin and packed cell volume of both breeds in middle pregnancy. However, had a reduction in late pregnancy. There were a reestablishment of the blood cell counts during the puerperium period. It was verified an increase on neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio indicated that ewes in the late pregnancy, postpartum and puerperium were under stress conditions compared to others reproductive stages. The total plasma proteins also increased during this period to compensate for the high nutritional requirements of the fetus, and these levels remained high until the end of the puerperal phase, when the lambs were weaned. The pregnancy and puerperium influenced all erythrocyte indices and changed the total leukocyte count. perfil hematológico é um indicador importante da saúde e produção animal. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar a análise hematológica comparativa de ovelhas Morada Nova e Santa Inês (ovelhas nativas do Brasil) em todos os está-gios reprodutivos. Foram utilizadas 20 ovelhas Santa Inês e 20 Morada Nova distribuídas em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado, em parcelas subdivididas e medidas repetidas no tempo. Para a análise do sangue, foram coletadas amostras por venopunção jugular a cada 14 dias, sempre colhidas pela manhã, antes que os anim...

The cactus pear has demonstrated productive potential in arid and semi-arid regions due to its photosynthetic process of crassulacean acid metabolism. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate agronomic characteristics and chemical composition of three genotypes of cactus pear at different locations of a tropical semiarid region classified as non-suitable for cactus pear cultivation. A completely randomized design in a factorial arrangement (3 × 7) (three genotypes of cactus pear [Miúda, Baiana (Nopalea cochenillifera) and Orelha de Efefante Mexicana - OEM (Opuntia stricta)] and seven locations) was used. The climatic conditions characterized an environment that restricts the growth of cactus pear genotypes, mainly due to the air relative humidity values. All morphological characteristics of the cactus pear genotypes were influenced by the interaction genotype x location, with higher expression of the characteristics on the different genotypes under hot semi-arid climate and tropical wet and dry climate. An effect of the interaction genotype x location was observed (p < 0.05) on water use efficiency, water accumulation and carrying capacity, where the highest values were observed for genotype Baiana at location 1. Also, there was influence of the interaction genotype x location over the chemical composition of the cactus pear. The cultivation of cactus pear is recommended under restricted climatic conditions in semi-arid tropical regions, especially the genotype Baiana, based on growth factors, biomass production and chemical composition.

The objective was to evaluate the fermentation parameters, chemical composition and in situ degradability of sesame silage in comparison to usual silages. The losses, fermentation quality and chemical composition of the forages and silages were evaluated using a completely randomised design with four treatments (sesame, corn, millet and sunflower) and four replicates per treatment, the silages were produced in experimental silos. In-situ degradability was evaluated using a completely randomised design with four treatments and three replicates (animals) per treatment. The results were statistically evaluated by analysis of variance and Tukey's test with a level of 5% of probability. Three rumen fistulated non-castrated Santa Inês rams were used. Sunflower and corn silages presented higher percentages of losses through gases (p ¼ .0256). Millet silage presented higher losses by effluent (p < .0001). The dry matter recovery (p < .0001) ranged from 70.0 to 96.5% for sesame and corn silage, respectively. The dry matter content (p ¼ .0002) in the silages ranged from 280.0 to 429.4 g kg À1. The sesame silage presented loss amounts and fermentation parameters similar to those found in corn and sunflower silage. Sesame silage showed moderate dry matter (DM), content, excellent crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) contents, and low lignin content. Corn silage presented higher concentration of the soluble fraction of DM (p < .0001). The sesame silage presented a high degradability rate of DM and it was similar to corn and millet which have great nutritional potential for ruminants feeding. Sesame has the potential to produce quality biomass and silage for animal feeding. HIGHLIGHTS The sesame can be an option for silage making. Sesame helps to ensure sustainability by promoting lower seasonal risks in this region through the usage of silage as feed for the animals. Sesame also increases the productivity of livestock throughout the year, through the availability of feed for the herd mainly during the dry season of the year.

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RESUMO. Com o objetivo de avaliar a inclusão de 0%, 10% e 20% farelo de coco na alimentação de frangos de corte utilizou-se 288 pintos, em experimento em blocos casualizados, com três tratamentos, quatro repetições e 24 aves por unidade experimental de um a 42 dias de idade. As rações foram isoenergéticas e isoprotéicas para cada fase (inicial, crescimento e final). As aves alimentadas com farelo de coco não apresentaram diferenças (p>0,05) em desempenho. No período total, os tratamentos que não receberam farelo de coco tenderam a uma pior conversão alimentar. Quanto ao rendimento de carcaça, não houve diferenças significativas, mas as alimentadas com farelo de coco apresentaram maior gordura abdominal que o controle.Palavras-chave: aves, desempenho, farelo de coco, carcaça. ABSTRACT. Effect of different levels of coconut meal in broiler chicken's diets upon the carcass yield.This experiment was carried out with the objective to evaluate different levels of coconut meal in broiler chicken's diets. It was utilized 288 chicks in randomized block design, within the period of 1 to 42 days old, under three treatments, with four replications and 24 birds in each experimental unit. The rations were isoenergetic and isoproteical to each phase. The birds fed with the levels of coconut meal didn't differ (p>0,05) in performance. The treatments that didn't receive the coconut meal tended to maximum feed conversion. Regarding the carcass yield, results showed no difference, although the birds fed with coconut meal tended to accumulate more abdominal fat.

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of concentrate supplementation on the ingestive behaviour of grazing ewes. Twelve pregnant pluriparous sheep were used, six of the Santa Inês breed and six of the Morada Nova breed. The supplement was formulated to supply the animals with two feed levels (0.5% and 1.5% of body weight) of nutrition. The experimental design was a randomized 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (two breeds, two supplementation levels and two feeding shifts, morning and afternoon) with six replicates per treatment, totalling 24 experimental units. Focal sampling was used to record the time spent on the adopted behaviour at 10-minute intervals for 10 continuous hours, with three replications, totalling 180 records per animal. Sampling started at 07:00. Time spent grazing, ruminating and resting did not correlate with the level of concentrate supplementation. It was expected that concentrate supplementation would reflect directly on forage intake owing to the substitution effect, which causes sheep where the supplement supplied a small proportion of net energy requirement, to have a greater grazing intensity. The two breeds differed in the time spent ruminating or lying, with the Santa Inês sheep spending more time in these activities. Greater intensity of grazing and ruminating occurred in the morning, which is directly related to the climatic conditions of the region. Time of day is a factor that imposes limitations on the feeding behaviour patterns of ewes that are supplemented on pasture.

This study was conducted to evaluate changes in hematological biomarkers of Nellore cows at different reproductive stages. Fifteen multiparous cows with 4 ± 1 years of age and live weight of 400 ± 50 kg were used at different stages (non-pregnant, in the initial, middle and late pregnancy, at birth, one day postpartum, 30 and 60 days postpartum). Blood collections were performed every 30 days and assayed for the following hematological biomarkers: hemogram (red blood cells, globular volume, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)) and leukogram (total and differential counts). The erythrogram was influenced (p < 0.001) by the reproductive stages, with variation in the results obtained for the total red cell count, hemoglobin content, globular volume, MCV, MCHC and total plasma proteins. The reproductive stages influenced the leukocyte profile with variation in the total leukocyte count and in the absolute values of neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes and monocytes. Hematological biomarkers of Nellore cows showed significant changes due to the physiological adjustments required in response to the metabolic requirements imposed in the final stage of pregnancy and in the beginning of lactation, ensuring the nutritional contribution in energy and oxygen transported through the blood.

ResumoObjetivou-se avaliar a influência do nível de suplementação com concentrado sobre o perfil hematológico de ovelhas Santa Inês no terço final da gestação e puerpério, assim como dos cordeiros. Utilizaram-se onze ovelhas, aos 75 últimos dias de gestação e nos primeiros 75 dias de lactação e oito cordeiros progênie das ovelhas, distribuídas em delineamento inteiramente casualizado em arranjo de parcelas subdivididas no tempo. As amostras de sangue foram colhidas sempre pela manhã a cada 14 dias. A suplementação não afetou (P>0,05) o eritrograma e o leucograma dos animais e os componentes sanguíneos avaliados encontraram-se dentro do intervalo de referência para a espécie. A categoria animal influenciou (P<0,05) os valores de hemácias, observando-se os maiores valores (11,72 x 10 6 /µL) para os cordeiros. Os cordeiros apresentaram valores inferiores (3073,3/µL) de neutrófilos em comparação com as ovelhas, seja na gestação (4957,6/µL) ou no puerpério (4067,3/µL), que não diferiram entre si (P>0,05). Já na contagem de linfócitos, os valores encontrados nos cordeiros (2858,8/µL) foram semelhantes aos das fêmeas gestantes (2982,0/µL); as fêmeas em lactação (4119,8/µL) apresentaram os maiores valores. A suplementação com concentrado (0,5% do PV) no pré e pós-parto não altera o perfil eritrocitário e leucocitário de ovelhas Santa Inês, sendo as maiores diferenças observadas entre as ovelhas das duas categorias e os cordeiros. Palavras-chave: hemograma; neutrófilos; ovinos nativos; suplementação.