Evaluation of grazing beef cows receiving supplements with different protein contents

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation with different crude protein contents on the productive performance of grazing beef cows during post-calving. Thirty-six beef cows, with age and average body weight of 5 years and 490±17.9 kg, respectively, were used. The experimen...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sidnei Antônio Lopes, Mário Fonseca Paulino, Edenio Detmann, Luciana Navajas Rennó, Ériton Egídio Lisboa Valente, Carla Heloísa Avelino Cabral, Victor Valério de Carvalho, Josilaine Aparecida da Costa Lima, Marcos Rocha Manso, Hugo Colombarolli Bonfá
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Estadual de Londrina 2016-10-01
Series:Semina: Ciências Agrárias
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/semagrarias/article/view/24728
Description
Summary:The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation with different crude protein contents on the productive performance of grazing beef cows during post-calving. Thirty-six beef cows, with age and average body weight of 5 years and 490±17.9 kg, respectively, were used. The experimental design was completely randomized. The treatments were: control = cows received only mineral mixture ad libitum; supplemented = cows received 1 kg d-1 of supplement containing 80, 200, or 320 g crude protein (CP) kg-1. There was no effect (P ? 0.16) of supplementation on voluntary intake. A linear effect (P < 0.02) of the CP content in the supplements was observed among supplemented cows, only for the CP intake. Supplementation did not affect (P ? 0.20) the total digestibility of organic matter, neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein, and CP. Among supplemented cows, a positive linear effect (P < 0.01) of the CP content in the supplement was observed for the CP digestibility. Intestinal flow of microbial nitrogen compounds and efficiency of synthesis microbial were not affected (P ? 0.18) by treatments. Performance, milk yield and composition were not also affected (P ? 0.11) by treatments. Supplementation did not affect (P ? 0.52) non-esterified fatty acids, urea nitrogen and progesterone serum concentrations. It is concluded that supplementation of grazing beef cows during post-calving does not affect nutritional and productive performance.
ISSN:1676-546X
1679-0359