Performance of Nellore young bulls on Marandu grass pasture with protein supplementation

Abstract

-The objective of this study was to verify the effect of low-intake supplementation on performance of Nellore young bulls kept on Marandu grass pasture. The experiment was divided in two periods: the dry and rainy seasons. Treatments during the dry period were composed of mineral salt with urea and mineral supplement enriched with true protein and additive. In the rainy period treatments were mineral salt and enriched mineral supplement only. Pastures were evaluated and animals were weighed in both evaluation phases. The variables studied were evaluated in a completely randomized design in a split-plot arrangement, where plots were treatments and subplots were the periods within each phase, considering the types of supplementation as treatments. During the dry season there was no effect of supplement type in the first and second periods of assessment on weight gain of animals, which was of 0.307 and 0.113 kg/day, respectively. In the third period of this phase there was effect of the type of supplementation on animal performance; animals which received enriched mineral supplement gained 0.600 kg/day vs. 0.517 kg/day for those which received mineral salt with urea. In the rainy season, animals receiving enriched mineral supplement gained more weight than animals receiving mineral supplement: 0.800 and 0.696 kg/day, respectively. Mineral supplementation with addition of protein and additives provides increases in the weight gains of animals kept at a grazing regime of 15%.

Effect of supplementation level on performance of growing Nellore and its influence on pasture characteristics in different seasons

“…This situation can only be changed by increasing the growth rate of animals. Under tropical conditions, this can be achieved by supplementing the deficient pasture nutrients (Moretti et al 2013) such as protein and minerals.…”

The nutritional interrelationship between the growing and finishing phases in crossbred cattle raised in a tropical system

“…The use of supplementation for pasture-fed animals has been evaluated in many tropical systems. The evaluation is typically performed at different time points within the growth curve of the animal during the year (Detmann et al 2014;Moretti et al 2013;Roth et al 2013). However, in temperate production systems, a nutritional level during one part of the growth curve can influence subsequent phases (McCurdy et al 2010), interfering with the growth rate, metabolism, and the deposition of tissues (Keogh et al 2015;Sainz et al 1995).…”

Desempenho de bezerros depois da inclusão de ureia de liberação lenta em suplemento proteico para bovinos

“…Durante a utilização da pastagem após o diferimento, os animais demonstraram uma predileção pelo consumo de LV, uma vez que esta é a porção mais nutritiva e palatável da dieta. Este comportamento promove uma redução significativa da participação deste componente na massa da forragem ao longo do inverno (Euclides, Macedo & Oliveira, 1992;Euclides et al, 2007;Moretti et al, 2013).…”