Forage cactus associated with different fiber sources for lactating Sindhi cows: production and composition of milk and ingestive behavior

Abstract

-The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of forage cactus with different fiber sources (elephant grass hay -EGH; corn straw -CS, hay of cassava shoots -HCS; fresh sugarcane bagasse -FSB; and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse -HSB) on the milk yield and composition and the feeding behavior of lactating Sindhi cows. Five cows with average body weight, average daily milk yield, and average daily 4%-fat-corrected milk yield of 265, 4.95 and 5.22 kg, respectively, were used in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The effect of experimental diets on milk yield and composition, feeding time (FT), rumination time (RT), idle time, mean values of total chewing time (TCT), number of ruminal boli (NRB), number of rumination chews (NRC), and feed efficiency (FE) and rumination efficiency (RE) expressed as a function of DM and NDF were analyzed. Milk yield in kg/day and corrected to 4.0% fat from the animals that received cactus associated with CS were higher as compared with the treatment with hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse. The milk composition variables were not influenced by the treatments, and nor were FT, RT, TCT, NRB and NC. Two patterns were observed for FE and RE, with higher efficiency of the diets with EGH, CS and HCS and lower efficiency for diets containing sugarcane bagasse. In this context, Sindhi cows fed forage cactus associated with corn straw, elephant grass hay, and hay of cassava shoots present better performance, feeding efficiency, and rumination responses than those fed forage cactus associated with fresh sugarcane bagasse and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse.

Principal component and cluster analyses of production and fertility traits in Red Sindhi dairy cattle breed in Brazil

“…In the Northeast of Brazil, there is a predominance of harsh environmental conditions, with high average temperatures and very low precipitation. The Red Sindhi has been well adapted to those conditions, and most breeders claim that cows can keep good body condition scores, good fertility, ability for milk production, and optimal feed efficiency, even in these very harsh environments (Berman 2011;Mello et al 2014;Cardoso et al 2015;Saraiva et al 2015;Oliveira et al 2017;Panetto et al 2017b). According to ABCZ (2014), Red Sindhi dairy cattle have shown averages of 530 days for calving interval, 245 days for service period, 75% for reproductive efficiency, 7 kg per day for milk yield, 265 days for lactation period, and 1875 kg for total milk yield.…”

Geographical distribution of zebu breeds and their relationship with environmental variables and the human development index

“…However, a higher occurrence of the Sindhi breed was observed for this region, indicating a more regional use of this breed (Panetto et al, 2017;Mello et al, 2020). Sindhi animals are seen to have excellent rusticity and tolerance to thermal stress, maintaining high productive and reproductive efficiency in adverse environments (Saraiva et al, 2015;Oliveira et al, 2017).…”

Ingestive behaviour and performance of feedlot lambs fed saccharine sorghum and corn silages

“…Thus, by raising the NDF content of the diets, rumination time would be extended (Van Soest, 1994;Harper & McNeill, 2015). Forages that are high in NDF required longer rumination owing to the need to process the increased amount of dietary fibre (Merchen & Church, 1988;Saraiva et al, 2015). Since animals fed BRS 506 and BRS 511 had lower but similar NDF intake, it was expected that these animals would spend similar amounts of time ruminating.…”