Intake and performance of confined crossbred heifers fed different lipid sources

• Published in: Revista brasileira de zootecnia 2012-06, Vol.41 (6), p.1490-1498
• Main Authors: Fiorentini, Giovani, Santana, Márcia Cristina Araújo, Sampaio, Alexandre Amstalden Moraes, Reis, Ricardo Andrade, Ribeiro, Andressa Ferreira, Berchielli, Telma Teresinha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE; carcass; females; ingestion; protected fat; soy oil and soybean; VETERINARY SCIENCES
• ISSN: 1516-3598; 1806-9290; 1516-3598; 1806-9290
• DOI: 10.1590/S1516-35982012000600025

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different lipid sources on nutrient intake, performance, development and carcass characteristics of heifers raised in confinement. Twenty-one crossbreed heifers (Nellore × Santa Gertrudis × Braunvieh) received 600 g/kg forage composed of corn silage and 400 g/kg concentrate with a 58.0 g/kg fat content in the total diet. The following lipid sources were used: soybeans, protected fat (Megalac-E®) and soybean oil. The experimental design was completely randomized, with three treatments and seven replicates, and the means were compared by the Tukey test at 5%. The protected fat diet resulted in a greater intake of dry matter (8.80 kg/d) when compared with the other diets. The animals that were fed the protected fat diet had a higher average daily weight gain and slaughter weight. Feed conversion and protein efficiency rate were not influenced by lipid sources. Carcass yield was not influenced by the different diets.