Productive performance and blood parameters of bulls fed diets containing babassu mesocarp bran and whole or ground corn

Abstract

-The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of corn milling and the inclusion of babassu mesocarp bran (BMB) on productive performance, digestibility of dietary nutrients, and blood parameters of dairy crossbred (Holstein-Gyr) bulls finished in confinement. Twenty-four bulls were fed four different experimental diets, containing two levels of inclusion of BMB (0 and 41.24%) and corn supplied in two different forms (ground and whole), for 98 days (77 days of data collection and 21 days of adaptation). The intakes and digestibility coefficients of the dry matter (DM) and nutrients were determined. There were no significant interaction effects of the BMB inclusion level and the form of corn used on the performance and digestibility variables. The intakes of DM, crude protein (CP), and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) increased with the inclusion of BMB in the diets. However, the inclusion of BMB in the diets decreased the ether extract intake, the NDF apparent digestibility, and the feed efficiency of DM and CP. Dry matter and NDF intakes also increased with the use of ground corn in the diet, which promoted an increase in the intake of total digestible nutrients (TDN), digestibility of non-fibrous carbohydrates, and average daily gain. However, the supply of ground corn reduced the feed efficiency of TDN. The remaining measured variables did not vary with the tested diets. The levels of plasma protein and albumin remained normal, but glucose concentrations were always high, irrespective of the tested diet. The form of corn supplied and the level of BMB inclusion had a significant interaction effect on the levels of triglycerides, urea, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase. Babassu mesocarp bran can be included up to 41.24% in the diet of confined bulls without a negative effect on the animal weight gain. Corn should be supplied ground because this form improves the performance of crossbred bulls.

Proportions of sugarcane and babassu mesocarp bran in diets for feedlot cattle

“…The similar feed conversion between BMB levels can be attributed, mainly, to the similar animal performance. These results were consistent with some reported in the literature (Silva et al, 2012;Cruz et al, 2014;Santana et al, 2015), which have demonstrated that when BMB inclusion levels are low to moderate, the lack of change in animal performance usually results in similar feed conversion, even when DM intake is changed. However, when the BMB inclusion levels reduced animal performance, which occurred for higher levels of BMB inclusion in this study, feed conversion increased (Miotto et al, 2013;Alencar et al, 2015).…”

“…The higher NDF intake with BMB inclusion in the diet can be attributed to the high fiber content of the feed, which was consistent with results reported in the literature (Miotto et al, 2013;Cruz et al, 2014;Santana et al, 2015). However, the literature shows that, in general, an increase in the proportion of sugarcane in cattle diets reduces NDF intake due to the decrease in DM intake (Magalhães et al, 2004(Magalhães et al, , 2006.…”

“…In addition, low levels of inclusion of BMB, which has a low EE content (Table 1), may have contributed to these results, as the diets with high levels of this byproduct showed no significant reduction of lipid fraction (Table 3). Miotto et al (2013) and Santana et al (2015), however, found that EE intake decreased when they replaced up to 100% and 42.24 % of corn grain, respectively, by BMB, reflecting the reduction in DM intake and the lower EE content of BMB in relation to corn. For the use of sugarcane, on the other hand, the literature has shown, with a high frequency, that an increase in the proportion of sugarcane in cattle diet reduces EE intake as a result of the reduction of DM intake (Magalhães et al, 2004(Magalhães et al, , 2006.…”

“…As for the animal response to BMB inclusion in diets, the literature (Silva et al, 2012;Cruz et al, 2014;Santana et al, 2015) shows that when inclusion levels are low to moderate (226.8 to 422.4 g/kg of the diet DM), no changes in animal performance are observed, reflecting the similar energy intake. Nevertheless, Miotto et al (2013) and Alencar et al (2015) showed that the average daily gain of feedlot cattle began to show a significant decline as the inclusion of BMB approached 500 g/kg of diet dry matter, after which the energy intake did not support the maintenance of animal performance.…”

“…Nutritionally, the babassu mesocarp bran is characterized as fibrous feed with high energy content, but with reduced particle size, which determines the high passage rate through the digestive tract of ruminants. Research carried out with this byproduct in ruminant has focused mainly on inclusion levels replacing corn grain in diets (Miotto et al, 2012;Silva et al, 2012) and recently evolved to the assessment of this feed replacing corn in diets with different levels of concentrate (Cruz et al, 2014) and/or associated with the processing of corn grain (Santana et al, 2015). Recently, because of the good results when used in moderate dietary inclusion levels, this byproduct has been evaluated in association with other feedstuffs, e.g., pearl millet (Alencar et al, 2015).…”