Prediction of chemical composition and peroxide value in unground pet foods by near‐infrared spectroscopy

The massive development of the pet food industry in recent years has lead to the formulation of hundreds of canine and feline complete extruded foods with the objective of meeting both the needs of the animals and numerous demands from pet owners. In the meantime, highly variable raw material compositions and the industry's new production techniques oblige manufacturers to monitor all phases of the extrusion process closely in order to ensure the targeted composition and quality of the products. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of infrared technology (visible and near‐infrared spectrophotometer; 570–1842 nm) in predicting the chemical composition and peroxide value (PV) of unground commercial extruded dog foods. Six hundred and forty‐nine commercial extruded dog foods were collected. For each product, an unground aliquot was analysed by infrared instrument while a second aliquot was sent to a laboratory for proximate analysis and PV quantification. The wide range of extruded dog food typologies included in the study was responsible for the wide variability observed within each nutritional trait, especially crude fibre and ash. The mean value of the 208 pet foods sampled for PV quantification was 17.49 mEq O₂/kg fat (min 2.2 and max 94.10 mEq O₂/kg fat). The coefficients of determination in cross‐validation of NIRS prediction models were 0.77, 0.97, 0.83, 0.86, 0.78 and 0.94 for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash and nitrogen‐free extract (NFE) respectively. PV prediction was less precise, as demonstrated by the coefficient of determination in cross‐validation (0.66). The results demonstrated the potential of NIRS in predicting chemical composition in unground samples, with lower accuracy for moisture and ash, while PV prediction models suggest use for screening purposes only.     

豆科与禾本科牧草间作的生长互作效应及对氮、磷养分吸收的影响

为了解牧草间作对作物生长和养分吸收的影响,以及为不同牧草优化配置、豆科和禾本科牧草间作提高结氮量提供理论依据,本试验采用随机区组试验设计,研究了间作对柱花草、扭黄茅和孔颖草的生物量和氮磷吸收的影响。结果表明,由于柱花草生物固氮,对扭黄茅和孔颖草养分吸收和生长有促进作用,与柱花草间作后的扭黄茅和孔颖草与禾本科牧草单作模式相比,能获得高的养分吸收量和产量。与各自单作对比,间作体系中的禾本科牧草生物量高于单作0.06%和26.78%;与柱花草单作对比,两个间作体系中的柱花草生物量低于单作9.70%和12.83%。扭黄茅与柱花草间作后,对氮磷的吸收量高于单作扭黄茅24.26%和35.18%,对氮磷的吸收量高于单作孔颖草40.64%和47.50%。相对于单作而言,柱花草分别与扭黄茅和孔颖草间作,对氮吸收量分别降低8.31%和28.94%,磷吸收量分别降低3.56%和20.58%。而且两种间作模式当量比均大于1,具有间作优势;柱花草/扭黄茅间作系统生产力、种间竞争能力高于柱花草/孔颖草,具有产量优势。在株行距为50 cm种植密度下,间作体系中禾本科牧草生长旺盛,柱花草的生长受到抑制,在与两个禾本科牧草间作中为弱竞争作物。结果表明,在合理的种植密度下,适合的牧草配置能够充分利用各种资源,促进种间有益作用,提高单位面积牧草产量和禾本科牧草氮磷的吸收,有利于改善牧草品质。     

Guanidinoacetic acid supplementation in broiler chickens fed on corn-soybean diets affects performance in the finisher period and energy metabolites in breast muscle independent of diet nutrient density

(1) Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is the single immediate endogenous precursor of creatine (Cr). It was hypothesised that dietary GAA would have different effects on performance and energy metabolites in breast muscle depending on the nutrient density (ND) of corn-soybean-based diets.

(2) A total of 540 one-day-old male Ross 308 broilers were allocated to 9 dietary treatments with 6 replicates (10 birds each) in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement with three levels of ND (low, 2800; medium, 2950 and high, 3100 kcal metabolizable energy (ME)/kg; and with the other nutrients being constant relative to ME) and supplemented with three levels of GAA (0, 0.6 and 1.2 g/kg) in a 42-d feeding trial.

(3) In the starter and grower periods, increasing levels of ND improved body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR), with the exception of ADFI in the starter period. GAA supplementation did not affect performance characteristics. All performance indicators responded markedly to increasing ND in the finisher period, whereas the highest GAA level reduced ADFI compared to the unsupplemented control (156 vs. 162 g/d) and concomitantly FCR (1.81 vs. 1.93). No interactive effects were noted for any performance trait. The high ND diet resulted in more breast meat yield on d42, associated with higher fat content and darker colour compared to the other ND levels. The GAA supplementation did not affect carcass and breast traits. At the end of the experiment, Cr was elevated when feeding GAA at 1.2 g/kg (5455 vs. 4338 mg/kg fresh muscle).

(4) To conclude, ND had a substantial effect on performance and carcass traits, whereas any effect of GAA was limited to FCR in the finisher period and independent of diet ND level.     

Altitude effects on technology and productivity of small bovine farms (milk meat) in Veracruz (Gulf of Mexico)

The dual-purpose bovine system represents 98.4% of the bovine livestock of Veracruz, the main cattle-producing state of Mexico. This system supplies calves to meat companies, a sector in which Veracruz has been the national leader in the last decade. The objective of the present study was to analyze the effect of the altitudinal zonation of farms on livestock technology and productivity in a microbasin of the Gulf of Mexico where small farms predominate. Structured interviews were applied to producers located in three altitudinal zones (at average altitudes of 50, 140, and 450 m, respectively, for lower, middle, and upper zones). Sample size was 135 farms having similar land surface (within a range of 15–22 ha). The results indicated multiple differences among farms located in the three zones. Farms in the middle and lower zones presented higher productive indicators than those in the upper zone. Differences in herd structure and management resulted in important differences in productivity, income, and profits in milk and calf production. We concluded from this study that altitudinal zonation in Veracruz had a clear effect on the differentiation of small farms, which are representative of dual-purpose cattle. The upper zone performs cattle activity under conditions with greater disadvantages in the analyzed region.     

Effects of protein-energetic supplementation frequency on growth performance and nutritional characteristics of grazing beef cattle

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate reduced supplementation frequencies for grazing beef cattle in rainy season. In experiment 1, evaluating the nutritional parameters, four rumen-cannulated Nellore bulls (BW = 410 kg) were used. In experiment 2, evaluating animal performance, 48 Nellore bulls (BW = 358 kg) were used. The treatments were as follows: mineral supplement (MS) alone and MS plus protein-energy supplement provided 3×, 5× and 7×/week. Supplementation frequency did not affect (P > 0.05) intake and digestibility. Average daily gain was greater (P < 0.001) to supplementation compared with MS. The supplementation 5×/week resulted in greater weight gain per hectare (9.24) and higher economic returns during the study period (1.64%) compared to other supplementations. Supplementation 5×/week increased animal performance and positively influenced economic returns.