This study aimed to evaluate the effects of forage neutral detergent fiber (fNDF) levels on the voluntary feed intake, digestibility, ruminal fermentation and feeding behavior of goats fed diets with cactus pear. Five non-lactating ruminally cannulated goats fed ad libitum were randomly assigned to a 5 × 5 Latin square design. Treatments consisted of levels of fNDF at 0, 109, 222, 339 and 463 g/kg of dry matter (DM) in cactus pear-based diets. The intakes of DM and NDF were quadratically affected (p ≦ .045) by fNDF levels. Voluntary water intake (VWI) increased linearly as the fNDF levels increased in the diet. The digestibility coefficients of organic matter, NDF and ether extract and total digestible nutrients concentration were quadratically affected (p ≦ .048) by fNDF levels. The ruminal pH linearly increased (p = .001) with fNDF levels, ranging from 5.44 to 5.81 for diets containing 0 and 463 g fNDF/kg DM, respectively. The fNDF levels promoted a linear increase (p = .006) in chewing time, linearly decreased (p = .007) resting time and quadratically affected (p = .033) rumination time. The inclusion of fNDF in the diets provided favorable conditions for ruminal function, digestibility and feeding behavior in goats fed diets containing cactus pear.

The high intake of fermentable carbohydrates may cause nutritional disorders and negatively affect animal performance. Thus, the research study aimed to determine the better roughage:concentrate ratio to improve the carcass traits and physicochemical quality of meat from feedlot-finished Santa Ines lambs. Diets were composed of Tifton 85 grass hay (Cynodon sp.) and concentrate (soybean meal, corn meal, urea, and mineral mixture) and consisted of five roughage:concentrate ratios of 88:12 (C12), 69:31 (C31), 50:50 (C50), 31:69 (C69), and 12:88 (C88). After 63 days the animals were slaughtered and carcass traits, the yield of commercial cuts, and physicochemical properties of meat were evaluated. The higher percentage of concentrate on roughage provided higher DM intake, better feed conversion, higher conformation, finishing, and carcass yield that resulted in heavier commercial cuts with higher fat content in the meat. The addition of 50% concentrate to the roughage improved the carcass traits, commercial cuts, and physicochemical parameters of the meat in a similar way to the diet with 88% concentrate, but with leaner meats, meeting the demands of the current consumer market.

The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of cactus pear as a moistening additive on fermentative and microbiological characteristics, aerobic stability (AS), chemical composition and in situ rumen degradability of corn grain silage at different opening times. A completely randomized experimental design was adopted in a 4 × 3 factorial scheme with four levels of dry matter (DM) (50; 60; 70 and 80% of DM) and three opening times (30; 60 and 120 days after ensiling), with four replications. There was an effect of interaction (P < 0.05) between the DM levels and opening times on silage yeast population, effluent losses, gas losses, dry matter recovery (DMR), AS of the silage and on lactic acid bacteria, mould and yeast populations after AS trial. The 60% DM level presented DMR values above 930 g/kg of DM. However, the lowest AS time (96.52 h) was observed in silages with 60% DM at 60 days after ensiling, although all silages have shown high AS. The DM in situ degradability of the ensiled mass increased after the ensiling process at all DM levels and opening times, with the 60% DM content showing the best result. When using cactus pear as a corn grain moistening additive, the 60% DM level is recommended when the opening time is up 120 days.

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