Utilization of Mucuna pruriens whole pods to feed lactating hair ewes.

Twenty nine Pelibuey × Katahdin hair ewes rearing single lamb were used during 42 days of lactation to evaluate the effect of including the Mucuna pruriens whole pods in the diets of lactating ewes on milk production and offspring performance. Animals were distributed at random into three experimental diets: a control diet without Mucuna (M0), and two more diets with the inclusion of 13 (M13) and 26% (M26), of milled pods of Mucuna pruriens, respectively. Dry matter intake, was not significantly different (P > 0.

Nutrient Digestibility and Metabolizable Energy Content of Mucuna pruriens Whole Pods Fed to Growing Pelibuey Lambs.

The nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and in vivo metabolizable energy supply of Mucuna pruriens whole pods fed to growing Pelibuey lambs was investigated. Eight Pelibuey sheep housed in metabolic crates were fed increasing levels of Mucuna pruriens pods: 0 (control), 100 (Mucuna100), 200 (Mucuna200) and 300 (Mucuna300) g/kg dry matter. A quadratic (p<0.

Risk factors associated with the occurrence of the second-litter syndrome in sows in southeastern Mexico.

The objective was to estimate the incidence of and to determine the effect of some risk factors on the decrease of litter size at parity 2 of sows in three commercial farms in Yucatan, Mexico. Data on 8,592 farrowing records of 4,296 sows were analyzed using a binomial logistic regression procedure. The model included the fixed effect of farm (1, 2, and 3), year of farrowing (2003-2011), season of farrowing (dry, rainy, and windy), number of pigs born alive at first parity (<9, 9-10, 11-12, and >12 piglets), lactation length (<18, 18-24, and >24 days), and weaning to conception intervals (<4, 4-11, and >11 days).

Length of productive life of sows in four pig farms in the tropics of Mexico.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of some factors on the length of productive life (LPL), the number of parities (NP), and the culling interval (CI) of sows. The information from 2003 to 2009 of 3,746 sows with LPL and NP records and 5,819 sows with CI records from the four farms of Yucatan, Mexico was used. LPL was defined as the number of days between the first farrowing and culling or death and CI as the number of days between the last farrowing and culling.