a b s t r a c tThe objective of this work was to evaluate carbon turnover and half-life in feces and blood from sheep fed on C 3 and C 4 plant diets, using the stable isotope technique. Eight Santa Ines sheep were randomly distributed between two treatments: the first consisted of animals that were fed alfalfa hay, and the second consisted of animals that were fed corn silage only. Function of time was used to measure carbon turnover rate. At steady state, the half life for carbon isotopic enrichment between food and feces is 1.2 and 1.0 days for alfalfa hay and corn silage treatments, respectively. For blood data collection the time was insufficient to reach the isotope equilibrium level, indicating a slow carbon exchange between diet and blood. It is concluded that blood has a slow turnover, indicating the isotope signal for the former diets. Feces, by contrast, have a quick turnover, indicative of their recent diets.

BackgroundAssuming that part of Methionine (Met) is converted into Cystine (Cys), but ignoring the rates with which such phenomenon occurs may lead to an excessive supply of Met in poultry diets. Such inconvenient could be easily avoided with the knowledge of the ideal Met:Cys/Total sulfur amino acids (TSAA) ratio and the rates of Met conversion into Cys.ResultsMet sources did not affect performance. Met:Cys/TSAA ideal ratio was determined using curvilinear-plateau regression model. Both optimum body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were estimated in 1007 g/day and 1.49, respectively, at 52% Met/TSAA ratio. Feed intake was not affected by Met:Cys/TSAA ratios. In the labelled amino acid assay, the rates with which Met was converted into Cys ranged from 27 to 43% in response to changes in Met:Cys/TSAA ratios, being higher at 56:44.ConclusionBased on performance outcomes, the minimum concentration of Met relative to Cys in diets for broilers from 14 to 28 d of age based on a TSAA basis, is 52% (52:48 Met:Cys/TSAA). The outcomes from labelled amino acid assay indicate that highest the Met supply in diets, the highest is its conversion into Cys.

RESUMO -O experimento foi conduzido com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito da linhagem e do nível de lisina da dieta sobre o rendimento e a qualidade da carne de peito de frangos de corte. Foram utilizados 2250 pintos não sexados, de três linhagens comerciais, identificadas como A, B e C, distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 3x3 (linhagens e níveis de lisina), com cinco repetições de 50 aves. As aves receberam ração à vontade, à base de milho e farelo de soja, suplementadas com 1,18; 1,24 e 1,30% de lisina nas rações pré-iniciais (1 a 7 dias); 1,10; 1,16 e 1,22% nas rações iniciais (7 a 21 dias); 1,0; 1,06 e 1,12% nas rações de crescimento (21 a 35 dias) e 0,85; 0,91 e 0,97% nas rações de terminação (35 a 42 dias). Foram avaliadas as características de rendimento de peito e carne de peito e as medidas de espessura, largura, comprimento, pH, perda de peso por cozimento e força de cisalhamento da carne de peito. Para o rendimento de peito não foram observadas diferenças significativas, enquanto para rendimento de carne de peito houve efeito significativo da linhagem, em que a linhagem A apresentou o maior rendimento e a linhagem B, o menor. Para as medidas físicas da carne do peito, foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre as linhagens para comprimento de peito, com a linhagem C apresentando o maior resultado. O pH da carne diferiu significativamente para linhagens e níveis de lisina. As linhagens tiveram efeito sobre o rendimento, comprimento e pH da carne de peito, em que a linhagem A apresentou maiores valores para rendimento e pH e a linhagem C para comprimento.Palavras-chave: frangos de corte, lisina, peito, pH, rendimento Effect of Strain and Dietary Lysine Level on Breast Meat Quality of Broiler ChickensABSTRACT -The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of broiler strain and dietary lysine level on breast meat yield and quality. Two thousand two hundred and fifty day old straightrun chicks from commercial strains named A, B and C were reared in a factorial 3x3 arrangement (strain and dietary lysine level) with five replicates of 50 birds per pen. The broiler chikens were feed ad libitun with a corn and soybean diet withing the following lysine levels: 1.18, 1.24 and 1.30% in pre-starter diets (1-7 days); 1.10, 1.16 and 1.22% in starter diets (7-21 days); 1.00, 1.06 and 1.12 % in grower diets (21-35 days) and .85, .91 and .97% in finishing diets (35-42 days). Total breast yield, breast meat yield, pH, breast measures (high, width and lenght), weight cooking loss, and breast meat shear force were evaluated. There were no effect of strain and diet on breast yield. Related to breast meat yield, strain A presented higher values than strain B. Strain C presented the highest breast lenght. There were effects of lysine level only for pH. pH was affected by strain and dietary lisine level. It was concluded that lysine level affected only pH value. Strain affected breast meat yield, lenght and pH, where strain A showed the highest values for yield and pH an...

Our goal was to trace the inclusion of poultry offal meal (OM) in diets by using carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) and nitrogen ( 15 N/ 14 N) isotopic ratios of different tissues in order to contribute for the development of an independent technology for the certification of the feeding of broilers reared on diets with no addition of animal ingredients. Eighty one-dayold chicks were randomly distributed into five experimental treatments, that is, diets containing increasing levels of OM inclusion (0, 2, 4, 8 and 16% OM), with four replicates of four birds each. At 42 days of age, four birds per treatment (n=4) were randomly selected, weighed, and sacrificed to collect breast muscle (Pectoralis major), keel and tibia samples to determine their isotopic ratios ( 13 C/ 12 C e 15 N/ 14 N). It was observed that 13 C and 15 N enrichment increased as a function of increasing OM inclusion in all diets. The analyses of the Pectoralis major showed that that only treatments with 8 and 16% OM dietary inclusion were different form those in the control group (0% OM). On the other hand, when the keel and tibia were analyzed, in addition to 8 and 16% OM), the treatment with 4% OM inclusion was also different from the control group. The use of isotopic ratios of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes is an alternative to trace OM inclusion in broiler diets as it is capable of tracing OM levels below those usually practiced by the poultry industry in Brazil.