Performance of dairy cattle subjected to different food strategies during the growing and finishing phases

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the crossbreed animals, in feedlot, previously fed with different supplemented energetic systems and Brachiaria brizantha pasture. The treatments were: TAA – high level intake of energy during the growing and finishing phases; TAM – high intake of energy during the growing phase and medium intake of energy during of the finishing phase; TMA – medium intake of energy during growing phase and high intake of energy during finishing phase; TMM – medium intake of energy during the growing and finishing phases. During the growth phase the animals received supplementation of 1.0% and 0.5% body weight of animals. In the finishing phase, the animals were fed diets containing 50% of concentrate (medium intake of energy, TDN = 71%) or 80% of concentrate (high intake of energy, TDN = 80%) in the dry matter of the total diet. The animals of the TAA and TAM treatments had higher average body weight at the beginning of feedlot due to that achieved average slaughter weights of 42 and 21 days less than the other treatments. The animals of the TAA and TAM treatments were more dry matter intake (P<0.05), % PV and g/PV0 , 75 ), average daily gain and feed conversion weight than the other treatments. The animals supplemented with higher energy level in the growing phase had higher heart girth (P <0.05) and lower gain this measure during the feedlot. There was no difference (P> 0.05) between treatments for these measures at the end of the termination. The high level of energy supplementation during the growing phase allowed animals to a greater initial weight input in confinement, and consequently, the best performance.