Corn cultivated in Brazil is predominantly of hard texture, and more propense to decreased starch digestibility under late harvesting situations than dent hybrids. This work tested the utilization of dent corn as a way of extending the ensilage period without reducing animal performance, and evaluated the potential of sugarcane as a forage for high-producing dairy cows. Nine lactating Holstein cows were allocated to three 3 × 3 latin squares and were fed 200 g of forage neutral detergent fiber per kg of dry matter as either hard texture corn ensiled at the half milk line stage of maturity, soft texture corn ensiled at the black layer stage, or sugarcane. There were no detectable differences between corn hybrids with regard to milk yield (34.2 vs 34.6 kg d ). Organic matter digestibility, chewing activity and rumen pH did not differ among treatments. Sugarcane seems to be a viable option to feed groups of Holstein cows during lactation stages in which nutrient demand is not at a maximum. The performance of dairy cows fed dent corn ensiled at the black layer stage of maturity was similar to the performance of cows fed flint corn ensiled at the half milk line stage. Key words: flint corn, dent corn, digestibility, stage of maturity DESEMPENHO DE VACAS HOLANDESAS ALIMENTADAS COM CANA-DE-AÇÚCAR OU SILAGENS DE MILHO DE DIFERENTES TEXTURA DE GRÃORESUMO: O milho cultivado no Brasil é predominantemente de textura dura, e mais propenso a redução na digestibilidade do amido em situação de colheita tardia que híbridos dentados. Este trabalho testou a utilização de milho dentado como maneira de ampliar o período de ensilagem sem reduzir o desempenho animal e avaliou o potencial da cana-de-açúcar em dietas para vacas leiteiras de alta produção. Nove vacas Holandesas foram alocadas em três quadrados latinos 3 × 3 e alimentadas com 200 g de fibra em detergente neutro oriunda de forragem por kg de matéria seca como milho de textura dura ensilado no estádio de maturação "metade da linha do leite", milho de textura macia no estádio "linha negra" ou cana-de-açúcar. Não foi detectada diferença entre híbridos de milho na produção (34,2 vs 34,6 kg d ). A digestibilidade da matéria orgânica, a atividade mastigatória e o pH ruminal não foram diferentes entre tratamentos. A canade-açúcar parece ser uma opção para alimentar grupos de vacas Holandesas durante fases da lactação na qual a demanda nutricional não é a máxima. O desempenho de vacas leiteiras alimentadas com milho dentado ensilado em estádio de maturação "linha negra" foi similar ao de vacas alimentadas com milho duro ensilado no estádio "metade da linha do leite". Palavras-chave: milho duro, milho dentado, digestibilidade, estádio de maturação

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), ME, and fecal characteristics of adult dogs and puppies fed raw soybeans (RSB) and their by-products. Six treatments were evaluated: 1 reference diet (REF), based on a maize-poultry by-product meal, and 5 extruded diets containing 70% of the ingredients of the REF diet and 30% of a soybean processed product [defatted soybean meal (DSM), micronized soybeans (MSB), soybean meal (SBM), RSB, or toasted soybeans (TSB)]. Six adult dogs (5.8 yr old) and 6 puppies (5.1 mo old) were used in a study with a double Latin square design (6 × 6). Urease was reduced in all diets after extrusion, but trypsin inhibitor was reduced only in the diets containing SBM, DSM, and RSB. The ATTD of CP in DSM, SBM, MSB, TSB, and RSB were 85.1%, 85.2%, 88.4%, 84.7%, and 78.9%, respectively, for adult dogs. Soybean meal and DSM had the lowest ATTD of acid-hydrolyzed fat (AHF; 84.3% for both ingredients in adult dogs). The ATTD of DM and AHF in DSM and AHF in all soybean products were greater in puppies than adult dogs (P < 0.05). The ME content was greatest in MSB (21.39 MJ/kg) and least in DSM (15.23 MJ/kg). The feces of dogs fed soybean products were softer and had a lower pH (average of 5.91 vs. 6.05 for adult dogs fed soybean products and REF diets, respectively) and ammonia content (average of 3.82 vs. 4.32 g/kg for adult dogs fed soybean products and REF diets, respectively), except those fed RSB, which had similar fecal pH and ammonia values, compared with those fed the REF diet. Soybean products are good protein sources for both adult and growing dogs, provided they are heat treated before diet extrusion.