Protein and mineral supplementation for calves grazing a Mombaça pasture during the winter

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of protein supplementation on the performance of beef calves grazing Mombaça pasture, during the winter. Thirty Nelore calves, 191 kg initial body weight were split in two treatments: mineral salt supplementation and protein mineral salt supplementation. It was used pastures of Mombaça, with a stocking rate of 0.75 AU/ha. The ingredients used on the protein mineral salt formulation were: cassava meal, cottonseed meal, urea/ammonium sulfate in the 10:1 ratio, mineral premix and salt. There was a weight lost in the first 28 days of the experiment, which was higher for the animals supplemented with protein mineral salt (-0.13 kg/day) when compared to the animals with mineral supplementation (-0.01 kg/day). Average daily gain showed no difference during the experimental period (average of 0.38 kg/day). Available dry mass of forage was 2545 kg MS/ha and protein content was 7.05 and 3.58% for leaves and stems, respectively.