Nutrient intake, productive and metabolic parameters of Nellore bulls feed a forage free diet using cottonseed cake as a fiber source

AbstractWe hypothesized that cottonseed cake in confined Nellore young bulls ’ diet as fiber source, could maintain or improve the nutrient intake, and productive and metabolic parameters. It was evaluated the total replacement of whole plant corn silage (WPCS) by cottonseed cake (CSC) as a source of fiber in the diet. A completely randomized design with two treatments and 12 replications was used. The treatments were two experimental diets containing 300 g/kg of WPCS or CSC as roughage. All animals at 0, 15, 30, 60 and 112 days were weighed to monitor productive performance and nutrient intake. Dry matter intakes, organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, physicall y effective neutral detergent fiber, crude protein and non-fiber carbohydrates of the WPCS treatment cattle were higher (p <  0.05), and the ethereal extract intake of cattle fed CSC diet was higher. The BW of cattle fed WPCS was higher in the two initial periods of confinement (p <  0.05). Animals from both treatments showed linear growth during the confinement period. There was a fiber source × period interaction for total weight gain (TWG), average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (FE) (p <  0.05), with the lowest in the first 15 days and the highest at 30 days, reflecting a compensatory gain in animals fed with CSC. Bulls fed with CSC showed negative TWG and ADG in the first period (p <  0.05), but recovered in the following periods, surpassing that of the SC treatment...
Source: Tropical Animal Health and Production - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research