Ingestive behavior of grazing steers fed increasing levels of concentrate supplementation with different crude protein contents

This study aimed to evaluate the ingestive behavior of steers on Brachiaria brizantha pasture fed diets with increasing levels of concentrate supplementation. Thirty-two crossbred steers in the finishing phase with average weight of 420 ± 8 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Tropical animal health and production Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 423 - 428
Main Authors:	Mendes, Fabrício Bacelar Lima, Silva, Robério Rodrigues, de Carvalho, Gleidson Giordano Pinto, da Silva, Fabiano Ferreira, Lins, Túlio Otávio Jardim D`Almeida, da Silva, Anderson Luiz Nascimento, Macedo, Venício, Abreu Filho, George, de Souza, Sinvaldo Oliveira, Guimarães, Joanderson Oliveira
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Dordrecht Springer-Verlag 01-02-2015 Springer Netherlands Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Animal Feed - analysis animal health Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena Animals Biomedical and Life Sciences Brachiaria brizantha Cattle - physiology crossbreds crude protein diet Diet - veterinary Dietary Supplements Dry matter Feed conversion Feeding Behavior finishing Grazing ingestion Life Sciences mastication Pasture pastures probability Proteins - administration & dosage regression analysis Regular Articles rumination steers Urochloa brizantha variance Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science Zoology Beef cattle Intake Concentrate Ruminant
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Summary:	This study aimed to evaluate the ingestive behavior of steers on Brachiaria brizantha pasture fed diets with increasing levels of concentrate supplementation. Thirty-two crossbred steers in the finishing phase with average weight of 420 ± 8 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design with four treatments and eight replicates per treatment. Their behavior was assessed every 5 min for 24 h, in the middle of the experimental period. Variance and regression analyses at 0.05 % probability were adopted. The times spent grazing and ruminating reduced linearly (P <0.05), whereas the times spent at the trough (eating) and on other activities increased linearly (P <0.05) as the supplementation levels were elevated. The total feeding and chewing times decreased linearly (P <0.05) as the concentrate levels in the diet were elevated. By increasing the supplementation levels, the number of bites per day decreased linearly (P <0.05), and the feed efficiency of dry matter increased quadratically. Rumination efficiency of dry matter increased linearly (P <0.05) with increasing levels of concentrate supplementation. Grazing and rumination activities are reduced when the time devoted to other activities and at the trough are increased, as a result of the substitution effect.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11250-014-0741-z ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-News-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0049-4747 1573-7438
DOI:	10.1007/s11250-014-0741-z