<b>Animal performance and carcass characteristics of steers finished in black oat pasture with or without energetic supplement</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascianimsci.v27i4.1148

Abstract

This work was carried out to evaluate the effect of energetic supplement on animal performance and carcass characteristics of steers finished in black oat pasture. Twelve Nelore steers were used with initial body weight of 398 kg and age average of 23 months. The animals fe on black oat pasture during 28 days, in which period two treatments were evaluated: without or with energetic supplement. The intake level of energetic supplement was 0.2% of body weight (50% of cassava meal and 50% of canola seeds). The average daily gain (ADG) and the final body weight (FBW) were similar in both treatments (1.31 and 435 kg – without supplement; 1.53 and 440 kg – with energetic supplement). There was no difference between the treatments concerning the carcass yield (55.5 vs 54.3%), loin area (68.7 vs 77.1 cm²) and fat thickness (5.7 vs 7.5 mm). The conclusion of this work is that the energetic supplement, on the intake level of 0.2% of body weight, did not influence the animal performance and the carcass characteristics evaluated