The objective of this study was to measure the water disappearance in the drinker and the pattern of daily water intake and estimate the amount of water wasted in pig production. The study will also generate information about the daily behaviour of water intake of pigs in the growing and finishing phases. Sixty male pigs with an average initial weight of 44.43 kg subjected to immunocastration were used. Animals received feed and water ad libitum. The animal-performance data, temperature and humidity, and feed and water intake behaviour were collected in real time during the entire experimental period, while water volume consumed was measured daily. The average water disappearance (WD) was 7.98 L, which increased during the studied period, and 29.07% of this corresponds to the estimated water wasted. The daily WD behaviour revealed an increasing pattern throughout the day for growing and finishing periods, with the registered peak at 16:00 and 15:00 h and intake of 6.24 and 9.48 L, respectively. The time spent drinking (TSD) and number of drinker visits (NDV) also showed a peak in the afternoon: 13:00 and 17:00 h for growing and finishing phases, respectively. The TSD was 282.73 and 268.36 s, and the NDV values were 16.13 and 13.84 for growing and finishing phases, respectively. The results demonstrated an increasing pattern during the animal housing period in WD that is proportional to dry matter intake and body weight, and the water wasted represents a significant portion of WD. The daily pattern of WD, TSD, and NDV increase during the total and growing periods, presenting peak activity at 13:00 h. During the finishing phase, TSD and NDV present a pattern similar to the growing phase, but the peak occurs in the last hour of the day.

Foi realizado um experimento para estudar o desempenho de leitões, dos 35 aos 62 dias de idade, alimentados com dietas sem aditivos, com alho ou com colistina. Noventa e seis leitões foram distribuídos em quatro tratamentos num desenho experimental de blocos inteiramente casualizados. A dieta controle (DC) não continha aditivos anti-microbianos; as dietas dois e três foram constituídas pela DC mais 0,05% e 0,15% de alho em pó, respectivamente; a dieta quatro continha a DC mais 0,25% de sulfato de colistina. O consumo de ração foi 16,2% maior (P0,05) que os animais alimentados com colistina. O uso de dietas sem anti-microbianos ou com alho para leitões na creche não permite alcançar os mesmos resultados que dietas contendo colistina.

The description of growth curves of animals over time is essential for the development of mathematical models to estimate the growth, as well as to determine nutritional requirements and the ideal moment for slaughter (^{Carabús et al., 2017}; ^{Remus et al., 2020}). Growth curves are generated by relating the weights (“Y”) and ages (“t”) of the animals, using nonlinear equations (^{Fernandes et al., 2019}). Equations used to describe animal growth include the Gompertz, logistic, and von Bertalanffy equations (^{Iglesias et al., 2014}). The number of parameters, ease of measurement, and estimation precision are the criteria used to determine the equation to estimate animal growth (^{Kyriazakis & Whittemore, 2006}).

Dois experimentos foram realizados para avaliar a influência de milhos com diferentes texturas de endosperma e adição de alfa amilase na digestibilidade de dietas e no desempenho de leitões na fase de creche. No ensaio de digestibilidade, foram usados 12 leitões castrados (7,96±0,31kg), alojados individualmente em gaiolas de metabolismo, enquanto no desempenho utilizaram-se 75 leitões (7,87±0,67kg) distribuídos em 15 gaiolas de creche. Nos dois experimentos, os tratamentos consistiram de três dietas formuladas para serem isonutritivas, mas com milhos de diferentes texturas e adição ou não de alfa amilase, conforme descrito a seguir: 1. grãos de milho semi-dentado; 2. grãos de milho duro e; 3. grãos de milho duro + alfa-amilase. Os resultados de metabolismo mostraram que os valores de energia digestível (ED) e metabolizável (EM) das dietas foram influenciados pelos tipos de milho, sendo o semi-dentado superior (P0,05) entre os tratamentos no consumo de ração, ganho de peso e/ou conversão alimentar. Dietas com milho duro ou semi-dentado e adição de alfa-amilase não alteram o desempenho dos leitões. Por outro lado, dietas contendo milho semi-dentado apresentam maior energia digestível que dietas com milho duro e a adição de alfa-amilase aumenta a energia de dietas com milho duro.

The objective of this study was to evaluate carcass characteristics and meat quality of surgically castrated and immunocastrated male pigs. Data were collected from 24 surgically castrated pigs and 24 immunocastrated male entire originating from the commercial line (Agroceres x Topigs), receiving isonutritive diets and were housed in the same experimental shed, slaughtered at 177 days old, with a slaughter weight of 127.8 (± 6.5) and 135.1 (± 7.8) kg, respectively. Carcass and meat quality characteristics such as carcass yield, lean meat yield, fat content, backfat thickness, muscle depth, pH, meat coloring and, drip, thawing and cooking loss, were evaluated. Immunocastrated pigs have heavier carcass, higher meat yield and lower fat thickness when compared to surgically castrated animals. Regarding meat quality, the immunocastrated presented a lighter meat, less reddness and less water holding capacity. In conclusion, this study confirmed that the carcass of male pigs, submitted immunocastration, has lower yield, however, more meat and less fat content, when compared to carcass of male pigs surgically castrated. Meat quality showed peculiar characteristics for immunocastrated pigs, and can be used more for sausage production, since it retains less water and have smaller redness color compared to surgically castrated pigs.

Foi realizado um experimento para determinar a composição química e digestibilidade dos nutrientes e energia do resíduo de batata palha (RBP), resíduo de pipoca doce (RPD), resíduo de biscoito de trigo doce (RBT), e resíduo de biscoito de trigo salgado (RBS) para leitões. Foram determinados os valores de matéria seca (MS), proteína bruta (PB), extrato etéreo (EE), matéria mineral (MM), cálcio (Ca), fósforo (P), sódio (Na) e energia bruta (EB). A digestibilidade dos alimentos foi avaliada utilizando 18 suínos alojados em gaiolas de metabolismo durante dois períodos consecutivos de 12 dias, sendo sete para adaptação e cinco destinados à coleta total de fezes. Os resultados de PB obtidos foram relativamente baixos, sendo 7,2; 6,0; 6,8 e 3,4% para o RBP, RPD, RBT e RBS, respectivamente. Os conteúdos de EE foram de 39,64; 7,12; 12,40; e 22,28% para o RBP, RPD, RBT e RBS, respectivamente. Os valores de Ca e P foram baixos e, em todos os coprodutos, inferiores a 0,18%. Teores elevados de Na foram encontrados no RBP e RBS (0,9 e 1,36%, respectivamente). A EB foi de 6.065; 4.199; 4.494; e 5.032 kcal kg-1 para RBP, RPD, RBT e RBS, respectivamente. Os valores de ED foram de 5.686; 3.995; 3.916 e 4.953 kcal kg-1, para RBP, RPD, RBT, e RBS e mostraram correlação linear e positiva (r2=0,97; P