Efecto de la suplementación con forrajes arbustivos sobre el desempeño productivo de conejos (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Actualmente existe una alta demanda de alimentos balanceados destinados a la ceba de animales que resultan costosos, por lo tanto, los alimentos balanceados no convencionales son una alternativa para obtener buenos resultados a bajo costo; planteando como objetivo evaluar el efecto de la suplementación de diferentes forrajes en el desempeño productivo y rendimiento de la canal de 24 conejos machos raza Nueva Zelanda, distribuidos en 4 tratamientos con 6 individuos cada uno, determinando ganancia de peso, rendimiento de canal y costos de alimentación. Se realizó un análisis de medidas repetidas en el tiempo con el paquete estadístico SAS, encontrando que no hay diferencias significativas (p≤0,05) entre el Botón de oro y el alimento comercial, con respecto a peso final y rendimiento de la canal, identificando una disminución en costos, concluyendo que la suplementación con materias primas no convencionales es una alternativa para reducir los costos de producción, hasta un 59%. Currently there is a high demand for balanced feeds intended for fattening animals that are expensive, therefore, unconventional balanced feeds are an alternative to obtain good results at low cost, consequently, the objective was to evaluate the effect of supplementation of different forages in the productive and carcass performance of 24 male New Zealand breed rabbits, distributed in 4 treatments with 6 individuals each one, measuring weight gain, carcass weight and feeding costs. It performed a repeated measures analysis over time with the SAS statistical package, there are no significant differences (p≤0,05) between Mexican sunflower and commercial feed, with respect to carcass performance, identifying a decrease in costs, concluding that supplementation with unconventional raw materials is an alternative to reduce production costs, up to 21,3%.

PSXIV-21 Performance of hair lambs maintained on stockpiled permanent pasture mixed with Cleome gynandra L. at multiple stocking densities

Stockpiled forage may extend the grazing season for sheep, reducing feeding costs. Additionally, internal parasites are a problem in sheep managed under grazing conditions. Plants high in phenolic compounds have potential to reduce parasite problems. Cleome gynandra is one such plant that has traditionally been used to treat worms in humans. Thirty-six Katahdin × Dorper lambs (38.8 ± 0.7 kg) were used to investigate the effect of stockpiled forages on lamb performance at different stocking densities: (i) 23 lambs/ha (LOW), (ii) 46 lambs/ha (MED), and (iii) 92 lambs/ha (HIGH). To test C. gynandra for anthelmintic properties, lambs were assigned to (i) permanent pastures (PP), and (ii) PP inter-seeded with C. gynandra (CL). The LOW lambs had the highest ADG (83.8 ± 10.5 g/day), MED lambs were intermediate (48.4 ± 11.6 g/day) and HIGH lambs were lowest (11.0 ± 10.6 g/day; P < 0.001). Lamb BCS did not differ between stocking densities or pasture types (P > 0.10). Fecal egg counts did not differ (P > 0.10) between pasture treatments. In conclusion, stockpiled forages may extend the grazing season for yearling lambs in Southern California. The lack of effect on parasite egg counts may be attributed to grazing C. gynandra at mature stage when nutritional and medicinal values were at their lowest. Future research can clarify the economics of grazing stockpiled forages for sheep at different stages of production, and nutritional effect of C. gynandra on carcass quality.

Effect of Carob Pulp (Ceratonia Siliqua L.) on Fattening Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality of Moroccan Breed Deroua Lambs

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of incorporating different levels of carob pulp (CP) on fattening performance, carcass characteristics and meat qualityof the Moroccan sheep breed Deroua. Thirty-six entire maleMoroccan breed Deroua lambs with aninitial body weight of 23.5±3.1 kg and age 120±10 days, were randomly divided into three diet’streatmentsof 12 animals: T0(0%CP), T1(10%CP) and T2(20%CP) containing 0, 10 and 20 % of CP, respectively. The experiment lasted 80 days, including 5 days of adaptation to different diets. Lambs were weighed every 15 days, while feed intake was determineddaily. At the end of the experiment, 27 lambs (9per treatment) were slaughtered to determinecarcass characteristics and meat quality. Final body weight and average daily gain (P<0.05) were affected by treatment diet. The inclusion of 10% CP led to a decrease in feed conversion ratio and feeding costs. Carcass characteristics were not affected by diets (P>0.05),except, in case of mesenteric fat (P<0.05) with superiority recorded in treatment diet T1(10%CP). Meat quality parameters were not affected by diets. The meat of lambs feddiets T1 and T2 tended to be lighter in color and less red than those fed diet T0. The results of this work showed that carob pulp can be used as an alternative feedstuff from fattening lambs to reduce feeding costs without affecting fattening performance.

Economic evaluation of the use of distillers dried grains with solubles in swine feeding

This study proposes to undertake an economic assessment of the inclusion of different levels of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in diets for pigs in different production stages and categories (growing and finishing), namely: barrows fed diets containing 0 or 20% DDGS; and finishing barrows and sows fed diets containing 0, 10, 20, and 30% DDGS. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the price of corn in three simulated scenarios with different revenue systems: an optimistic scenario (lowest price); a regular scenario (medium price); and a pessimistic scenario (highest price). Inclusion of DDGS in the swine diet can reduce feeding costs and improve the profitability of production, about finishing males and females, the profit per kilogram of weight gain (US$/kg) were better in 10% of DDGS inclusion, 0.23, 0.28 respectively, but for growing and finishing, it was smaller in 20% (0.32 US$/kg) of DDGS inclusion than the 0% control treatment (0.33 US$/KG). The inclusion of DDGS must be carefully planned, since its use may depress animal performance and its inclusion is linked to the costs of the other ingredients that make up the diet.

Identification of pig farm practices in the central Andean region of Colombia

The Colombian Swine Industry (CSI) has high pork carcass imports from the US due to the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) signed. The CSI is aimed at supplying domestic demand because not all departments are free of swine fever. In fact, pig farmers are focused on controlling the feeding costs and biosafety, and increasing the birth rate. The problem of the CSI is the search to increase profitability and eliminate intermediaries to be able to reach the consumer directly. This study is descriptive, and aims to identify the state-of-the-art of worldwide practices compared to the central Andean region of Colombia (CARC). For this, a measurement instrument was designed to identify the CSI practices, and the results were used to identify the improvement points for the CARC region. This instrument was validated with ten experts in terms of content, and these were not considered in the sampling. The results were obtained through a probabilistic sampling for a finite population comprised of pig farms located in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Tolima, and Huila. The identified population was 191 pig farmers located in the CARC, and the sample calculated to be surveyed, was 50 pig farmers; however, the response rate was higher, and the measurement instrument was applied to 53 pig farmers. As a result, pig farmers want to create new business lines, but there is no trust with competitors. Besides, there is a deficit in technology, infrastructure, public policies, and economic incentives.

Small Ruminants and Its Use in Regenerative Medicine: Recent Works and Future Perspectives

Medical and translational scientific research requires the use of animal models as an initial approach to the study of new therapies and treatments, but when the objective is an exploration of translational potentialities, classical models fail to adequately mimic problems in humans. Among the larger animal models that have been explored more intensely in recent decades, small ruminants, namely sheep and goats, have emerged as excellent options. The main advantages associated to the use of these animals in research works are related to their anatomy and dimensions, larger than conventional laboratory animals, but very similar to those of humans in most physiological systems, in addition to their low maintenance and feeding costs, tendency to be docile, long life expectancies and few ethical complications raised in society. The most obvious disadvantages are the significant differences in some systems such as the gastrointestinal, and the reduced amount of data that limits the comparison between works and the validation of the characterization essays. Despite everything, recently these species have been increasingly used as animal models for diseases in different systems, and the results obtained open doors for their more frequent and advantageous use in the future. The purpose of this review is to summarize the general principles related to the use of small ruminants as animal models, with a focus on regenerative medicine, to group the most relevant works and results published recently and to highlight the potentials for the near future in medical research.

Impact of Feeding Pattern on the Structure and the Economic Performance of Dairy Cow Sector

In dairy farms, the feeding cost, which includes the expenses for purchased feed but also the expenses for feed production, constitutes a very large part of production cost (more than 60%), which indicates the economic importance of the feeding strategy. This study discerns three different feeding strategies: landless farms only purchasing feed from markets (“Purchasing”), farms for which home-grown feeds stand for more than 10% of feeding costs (“Producing”) and farms with less than 10% home-grown feeds (“Multi-purpose”). Based on technical and economic data from 47 dairy cow farms in Greece, alternative scenarios of development of the dairy sector are determined taking into account the dependence on on-farm feed production. Through a parametric programming model, the study provides insights regarding the optimal structure of the system under different scenarios (changing availability of variable capital, changes in milk prices). The results indicate that “Purchasing” farms are the preferred option when variable capital is abundant and milk prices are satisfactory, while “Producing” are the ones surviving with milk prices significantly lower than the actual ones in Greece and European Union. “Multi-purpose” farms perform worse than the other two and are sidelined in both scenarios, as they do not seem to be able to specialize in the dairy enterprise or in crop production and thus to minimize costs.

Total or partial replacement of fishmeal with soybean meal in the diet of the Pacific fat sleeper Dormitator latifrons juveniles

Groups of Dormitator latifrons in triplicate (4.1 ± 2.0 g and 6.2 ± 1.0 cm) were fed experimental diets containing four levels of substitution of fishmeal (FM) by soybean meal (SM) (0, 40, 70, and 100%, respectively). The diets were formulated to be isoproteic (35% crude protein) and isolipidic (8.0% crude lipids). The effect of each treatment on growth was evaluated and its implications on the cost of feeding. After 60 days of feeding, there were no significant differences in the fish's proximate composition (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the diets (P < 0.05) in the evaluated biological indices: total growth increase (TGI), specific growth rate (SGR), thermal growth coefficient (TGC), and survival (%). Feeding costs decreased significantly as the proportion of soybean meal in the diet increased. The results indicated that substituting FM by up to 100% of SM can promote adequate growth in D. latifrons without affecting body composition and survival while also reducing operative costs during the fattening process.

Small Ruminants and Its Use in Regenerative Medicine: Recent Works and Future Perspectives.

Medical and translational scientific research requires the use of animal models as an initial approach to the study of new therapies and treatments, but when the objective is an exploration of translational potentialities, classical models fail to adequately mimic problems in humans. Among the larger animal models that have been explored more intensely in recent decades, small ruminants, namely sheep and goats, have emerged as excellent options. The main advantages associated to the use of these animals in research works are related to their anatomy and dimensions very similar to those of humans in most physiological systems, in addition to their low maintenance and feeding costs, tendency to be docile, long life expectancies and few ethical complications raised in society. The most obvious disadvantages are the significant differences in some systems such as the gastrointestinal, and the reduced amount of data that limits the comparison between works and the validation of the characterization essays. Despite everything, recently these species have been increasingly used as animal models for diseases in different systems, and the results obtained open doors for their more frequent and advantageous use in the future. The purpose of this review is to summarize the general principles related to the use of small ruminants as animal models, with focus on regenerative medicine, to group the most relevant works and results published recently and to highlight the potentials for the near future in medical research.