Balance between nutrient uptake by the crop and the amount of applied fertilizer is desired in a production system, and this measurement can predict the nutrient use efficiency. The present study aimed to evaluate nitrogen-(N-) use and recovery efficiency and extraction of N, phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) by sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and black oat (Avena strigosa) forages under nitrogen fertilization in three consecutive crop cultivation. The experiment was carried out at Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos, Paraná, Brazil, in Rhodic Hapludox soil. Treatments included 0, 37.5, 75, 150, 225, 300, and 375 kg N ha −1 applied to sorghum in the summer seasons of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, intercalated by, respectively, 0, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200, and 240 kg N ha −1 applied to black oat in the winter/2011. Forage production, N, P, and K extraction, and N recovery efficiency were determined through samplings during the crop cycle. The highest sorghum forage production and N and K extraction were under 230 to 300 kg N ha −1 , which was around 190 kg N ha −1 for black oat. The values of N recovery, efficiency, and N-use physiological efficiency were higher under lower N rates for both crops. Based on this, about 150 kg N ha −1 is recommended to obtain good sorghum forage production with higher N efficiency levels, which is about 120 kg N ha −1 for black oat.

The objective of this research was to evaluate techniques, incubation period, and effects of amino acids in ovo feeding. First, 240 hatching eggs were selected and distributed in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement (two techniques and 3 d). The parameters of incubation, relative weight of gastrointestinal organs, and classification of embryonic mortality were evaluated. In the second stage, 720 hatching eggs were incubated with five treatments: control, methionine (20 and 30 mg), and lysine (20 and 30 mg). These animals were housed during 14 d. The animals were divided with five treatments, nine replicates, and groupings based on sex. Incubation parameters, performance, intestinal morphometry, and relative weight of digestive tract organs were evaluated. The results indicate that the technique using a 45° needle axis passing through the air chamber hinders hatchability. In the organ weighing, there was no difference between the evaluated factors. For intestinal morphometry, there was only a significant difference between the dose factor for the crypt villi and crypt diameter. To conclude, the technique using a 90° angle without passing through the air chamber is safer for the embryos. The inoculation of methionine (20 and 30 mg) obtained data similar to the control group.

Objective: The effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of piglets in the nursery phase was evaluated.Methods: A total of 450 hybrid pigs (21 day old), including both females and uncastrated males, weighing approximately 6 kg, were distributed in a completely randomised design with 3 treatments and 3 replicates of 50 animals each. The treatments were: i) pen without environmental enrichment (control), ii) treatment consisting of continuous environmental enrichment (CEE) with rubber balls throughout the experimental period, and iii) treatment consisting of environmental enrichment with washed balls (EEWB) during the whole experimental period which were removed daily for washing. For the behavioural evaluation, 10 animals were randomly selected per replicate. The behavioural assessments were performed once a week, from 8 am to 6 pm, using images captured with a video camera. The data were submitted to non-parametric analyses, the means were compared using the Bonferroni test, and Person’s correlations were also calculated.Results: A statistical difference (p = 0.001) was observed in the B5 (playful) behaviour; the animals in the EEWB treatment group had a higher frequency of this behaviour than animals in the control treatment group. The animals in the control group showed a higher frequency of B7 behaviour (lying down) (p = 0.026) than those in the EEWB and CEE treatment groups. The animals in the control group had a higher frequency of the B9 (belly nosing) behaviour than those in the EEWB group (p = 0.015). There was a tendency towards a higher frequency of behaviour B3 (walking in the pen) (p = 0.067) when the animals received the control treatment than treatments EEWB or CEE.Conclusion: The use of an enriching object improved the animal welfare and altered the correlation between the evaluated behaviours compared to the animals that did not have environmental enrichment.

This study aimed to evaluate, through life cycle assessment and using experimental data, the environmental impacts of growing pigs’ production (30 to 50 kg) fed diets with reduced crude protein (CP) levels, and supplemented with industrial amino acids. Experiment I (nitrogen and phosphorus balance): 20 crossbred barrows, averaging 31.80 ± 2.39 kg of initial body weight, were housed in metabolic cages and allotted in a randomized block design with four treatments, five replicates and one animal per experimental unit. Experiment II (performance): 44 crossbred barrows, averaging 30.10 ± 0.63 kg of initial body weight, were housed in a randomized block design, with four treatments, 11 replicates and one animal per experimental unit. The treatments for both experiments consisted of four diets containing 18.15, 17.15, 16.15 and 15.15% of CP, and supplemented with industrial amino acids, in order to meet the pig’s requirements of SID amino acids. According to the obtained data (Experiments I and II), the environmental impacts for global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AC), eutrophication potential (EU), cumulative energy demand (CED), terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE) and land occupation (LO), per kg of body weight gain, were calculated (CML 2001 method). There was a reduction in some studied environmental impacts as the dietary CP reduced from 18.15 to 15.15%, observing a reduction in the AC from 35.34 to 31.58 g SO2-eq (P = 0.015), there was also a reduction in the EU from 11.90 to 10.31 g PO4-eq (P = 0.001), and the LO was reduced from 2.15 to 1.89 m2-year (P = 0.005), respectively. GWP, CED and TE were not affected (P > 0.05) by the dietary CP reduction, although some variations were observed. It was concluded that the dietary CP reduction, supplementing with industrial amino acids, may help to mitigate the environmental impacts caused by growing pig production for the AC, EU and LO categories.

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