Accurate adjustment of feed formulation for broiler chickens on performance and lipid composition of meat

Most consumers consider the fat of chicken meat undesirable for a healthy diet, due to the high levels of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the influence of changes in dietary metabolizable energy level, associated with a proportional nutrient density variation, on broiler chickens performance and on the lipid composition of meat. Males and females Cobb 500 broilers were evaluated separately. Performance evaluation followed a completely randomized design with factorial 6x3 arrangement - six energy levels (2,800, 2,900, 3,000, 3,100, 3,200 and 3,300 kcal/kg) and three slaughter ages (42, 49 and 56 days). Response surface methodology was used to establish a mathematical model to explain live weight, feed intake and feed conversion behavior. Total lipids and cholesterol were determined in skinned breast meat and in thigh meat, with and without skin. For lipid composition analysis, a 3x3x2 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design - three ration’s metabolizable energy levels (2,800, 3,000 and 3,300 kcal/kg), three slaughter ages (42, 49 and 56 days) and two sexes - was used. The reduction in the diet metabolizable energy up to close to 3,000 kcal/kg did not affect live weight but, below this value, the live weight decreased. Feed intake was lower when the dietary energy level was higher. Feed conversion was favored in a direct proportion to the increase of the energy level of the diet. The performance of all birds was within the range considered appropriate for the lineage. Breast meat had less total lipids and cholesterol than thigh meat. Thigh with skin had more than the double of total lipids of skinned thigh, but the cholesterol content did not differ with the removal of the skin, suggesting that cholesterol content is not associated with the subcutaneous fat. Intramuscular fat content was lower in the meat from birds fed diets with lower energy level. These results may help to define the most appropriate nutritional management. Despite the decrease in bird’s productive performance, the restriction of energy in broiler chickens feed may be a viable alternative, if the consumers are willing to pay more for meat with less fat.

Subclinical diagnosis of Caseous lymphadenitis based on Elisa in Sheep from Brazil

Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, is a chronic contagious disease that affects small ruminants and still remains an important problem for many lamb-producing countries. Animals are considered clinically infected when occurs abscesses in superficial lymph nodes. Visceral or internal form can coexist which no apparent clinical signs of infection are seen. The best procedure to avoid spread of the disease is elimination of infected animals. However, as the chronic and subclinical nature of the infection of CLA alternative methods are required for detection and screening. In this study, we described the performance of indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for diagnosis of CLA in asymptomatics sheep. Also, test culture and biochemical identification were achieved to confirm CLA infection. The serological diagnostic was performed in sheep symptomatics (n=50) and asymptomatics (n=374) from nine flocks. Analysis reported high positivity of 71% for ELISA in 85% of asymptomatic animal for CLA with a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 31%. Results from ELISA test in asymptomatic animals against culture for caseous lymphadenitis were more specific (97%) and permitted to exclude healthy animals without symptoms. This study concluded that C. pseudotuberculosis infection could be widely disseminated in sheep flocks in Northwestern region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil and only one screening test is not enough. The association with indirect ELISA test and culture could better indicate the real problem of CLA in sheep flocks.

Silagens de milho consorciado com forrageira tropical e leguminosa em dietas para terminação de cordeiros

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Animal - FEIS

Qualidade das silagens de sorgo e de planta inteira de soja na terminação de cordeiros em confinamento

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FMVZ

Milho, amido ou caroço de algodão associados à glicerina bruta em dietas para ovinos

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Detection of serum antibodies to parainfluenza type 3 virus, respiratory syncytial virus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and herpes virus type 1 in sheep in the region of Botucatu, São Paulo - Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Meat characteristics of nellore cattle fed different levels of lipid-based diets

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the dietary inclusion of lipid-based diets (whole cottonseed and protected fat) on the centesimal composition, fatty acid profile, and sensory properties of meat from finishing Nellore cattle. The study was carried out from August to October 2009. Thirty nine uncastrated Nellore males with average initial body weight of 494.1 ± 10.1 kg and 36 months of age were housed for 63 days in pens with thirteen animals each. A completely randomized design with three treatments and thirteen replications was used. The treatments evaluated were: feed with 2.50% cottonseed (control diet); feed with 11.50% cottonseed; and feed with 3.13% cottonseed added of protected lipid (PL), all on a dry matter basis. No differences between treatments were observed for moisture, protein, and ash contents. However, the addition of protected fat caused an increase in the percentage of ether extract in the meat. Diets containing cottonseed or protected lipid did not affect fatty acid concentration in the meat. The intensity of the aroma, strange aroma, flavor, strange flavor, juiciness, color, and overall appearance were similar between treatments, except for tenderness, which was positively affected in cattle fed a diet in which the only lipid source was cottonseed. The study demonstrated that the addition of PL in the diets of finishing cattle led to greater levels of intramuscular fat, but to less tender meat than the other treatments.

Estrutura populacional e análise de variabilidade genética em rebanhos ovinos brasileiros

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Animal - FEIS

EC34-48 Farm Sheep Facts

The farm flock and the fattening of western feeder lambs are the only methods of sheep production of importance in Nebraska. The farm flock is not a major enterprise on Nebraska farms. It serves as a side line on farms having a well-drained place which sheep may call their own. This 1934 extension circular contains information on: Nebraska Sheep-industry facts; market, ewe, ram, and lamb facts; shearing and wool facts; two parasites and one pest; grading and marketing wool; and scouring and carding wool for home use.

The Nebraska Agricultural Outlook for 1938

Each year the federal government gathers data relating to agriculture through the various departments of the United States Department of Agriculture. These data are classified and analyzed by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics at Washington and all information which may be helpful to farmers is published. For several years it has been the policy of the Department of Rural Economics and the Agricultural Extension Service of the College of Agriculture, Lincoln, to select from the federal information facts which may be especially helpful to Nebraska farmers. These facts and other economic conditions in Nebraska are published this year as the Agricultural Outlook for Nebraska, 1938. The Outlook should be helpful in the marketing of the crops and livestock on hand. It should also be helpful in making farm plans for 1938.

Whale Meat in the Japanese Diet

Junghans (Letters, 4 Apr., p. 6) points out several errors in Beary’s letter (14 December 1979, p. 1260) regarding the high concentrations of mercury in whale meat eaten by the Japanese. We would like to call attention to some additional errors in Beary’s letter.

Echinococcus Infections in Man and Animals in Kenya

1. Hydatid cysts are found in more than 30 per cent of all cattle, sheep and goats in Kenya, but the disease is prevalent in man only in the semi-desert area of Turkana. Up to the time of the present investigation the life-cycle of the parasite in East Africa had not been studied, but it was suggested that wild carnivores, such as hyenas and jackals, might be the main hosts of the adult worms. 2. One hundred and forty-three carnivores, representing 23 species, have been examined. Echinococcus adults were found in 27 out of 43 domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), in three out of four hunting dogs (Lycaon pictus), in one out of nine jackals (Thos mesomelas), and in three out of 19 hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta). 3. A detailed morphological study was made of the Kenya material. After comparison with specimens from other parts of the world, it was concluded that the only species occurring in Kenya was E. granulosus, but it is possible that the minor morphological and biological differences are evidence of distinct strains. Further laboratory studies are necessary to compare the parasite from man and animals in different parts of Kenya with material from elsewhere. 4. A search was made for larval hydatids in 92 ungulates representing 18 species, and in a miscellaneous collection of nearly 2,000 rodents and primates representing a further 31 species. Only one animal was positive, a wildebeest (Gorgon taurinus). 5. The infections in the wild carnivores were all very light; only domestic dogs were heavily infected. It is concluded that the main cycle of transmission in Kenya is between dogs and domestic livestock. 6. Turkana tribesmen are the most heavily infected people in Kenya, either because the strain of parasite is more pathogenic to man in that area, or, more probably, because of the intimate contact between children and the large number of infected dogs. A particularly dangerous custom in the area is the use of dogs to clean the face and anal regions of babies when they vomit or have diarrhea. No satisfactory explanation can be given for the rarity of the disease in man in many of the other areas of Kenya where hydatids are very common in domestic animals. 7. The control of the disease will depend upon an active health-education campaign, together with the destruction of all unregistered dogs and improvement in meat hygiene.

Comparison of Endocrine Response to Stress Between Captive-Raised and Wild-Caught Bighorn Sheep

Stress hormones in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis), produced in response to environmental changes, road development, or high population density, may impact their immune systems to a threshold level that predisposes them to periodic, large-scale mortality. We compared the stress response to a novel environmental situation and repeated handling between bighorn sheep born and raised in captivity (CR) and bighorn sheep born in the wild (WC) and brought into captivity. We measured plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM). Three weeks after each group’s arrival we used a one-time drop-net event to elicit an acute stress response, and we collected blood samples from each sheep over 35 minutes, as well as one fecal sample. We collected blood and fecal samples from both groups on 7 other occasions over the subsequent 6 months. We also collected fecal samples from the pen at approximately 24-hour intervals for 3 days following every handling event to monitor the stress response to handling. We found that CR sheep had a stronger autonomic nervous system response than WC sheep, as measured by epinephrine and norepinephrine levels, but we found a very similar hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) response, measured by cortisol levels, to the acute stress event of a drop-net restraint. We also found that once the WC sheep had acclimated, as indicated by the return to the initial baseline FGM levels within 12 weeks, the CR and WC groups’ HPA responses to sampling events were not significantly different from one another. Fecal samples can provide a noninvasive mechanism for managers to monitor baseline FGM for a given herd. Using long-term monitoring of FGM rather than values from a single point in time may allow managers to correlate these levels to outside influences on the herd and better understand the impacts of management changes, population density, or increased human developments on the health of the sheep population.

U.S. Meat Export Seminar Welcome

What a great pleasure it is to welcome you to our campus today. We are so very glad to have you here with us in beef country. I'm sure you are all very well aware beef is big business in our powerhouse agricultural state. And as a connoisseur of the product, let me tell you - it's very good beef!

G82-621 Sources of Livestock and Poultry Market Information (Revised July 1994)

This NebGuide provides a list of various market information sources, each followed by a brief summary of issue schedules and contents. It provides a listing of widely used and readily available market information sources that contain information which may be useful to agricultural producers, lenders and agribusiness firms when making livestock and poultry marketing decisions. Most of the available market information and statistical data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Many now require an annual subscription fee.