Adaptation to high-energy diets for Nellore cattle previously submitted to either nutritional restriction or intake of concentrate feedstuffs

• Grant number: 14/26210-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: August 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Danilo Domingues Millen
• Grantee: Danilo Domingues Millen
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Dracena. Dracena , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Dracena

Abstract

The objective of the two studies in this project will be to evaluate the effects of either previous nutritional restriction or previous intake of concentrate feedstuffs on days to adapt to high-concentrate diets, feedlot performance, feeding behavior, carcass traits, rumen health, nutrients degradability, rumen fermentation, and some populations of rumen bacteria of Nellore cattle. In both studies, the treatments will be disposed as follows: Maintenance (forage ad libitum + mineral supplement); Restriction (forage restricted at 1,4% of body weight + mineral supplement), and Concentrate (forage ad libitum + 0,5% of body weight of a mix of concentrate feedstuffs and mineral supplement). In the first study, it will be used 96 Nellore yearling bulls, with approximately 380 kg of body weight. Cattle will be blocked by weight, and randomly distributed in 24 pens, which will be considered the experimental unit. This first study will last 112 days, divided into 2 phases: 28 days of pre-adaptation, in which the treatments previously described will be applied, and 84 days of feeding high-energy diets; where the following variables will be evaluated: days to adapt to high-concentrate diets, feedlot performance, feeding behavior, carcass traits, and rumen health. In the second study, it will be used nine 20-mo-old Nellore bulls of approximately 350 kg, cannulated in the rumen, which will be randomly distributed into two Latin squares 3 x 3. This study will last 110 days: 14 days of pre-adaptation, and 16 days of feeding high-energy diets in each of 3 periods, including a 10 days washout interval between periods 1 and 2, and 2 and 3. In this second study, rumen pH and temperature will be measured every 5 minutes by data loggers, and also the following variables will be evaluated: in situ degradability; production of short-chain fatty acids, ammonia and lactic acid; feeding behavior, and ruminal populations of some strains of cellulolytic, amylolytic, and lactate-producing and utilizing bacteria by real time PCR technique. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PINTO, ANA C. J.; BERTOLDI, GUSTAVO P.; FELIZARI, LUANA D.; DIAS, EVANDRO F. F.; DEMARTINI, BRENO L.; NUNES, ANA B. C. P.; SQUIZATTI, MARIANA M.; SILVESTRE, ANTONIO M.; OLIVEIRA, LUCAS F. R.; SKARLUPKA, JOSEPH H.; et al. Ruminal Fermentation Pattern, Bacterial Community Composition, and Nutrient Digestibility of Nellore Cattle Submitted to Either Nutritional Restriction or Intake of Concentrate Feedstuffs Prior to Adaptation Period. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, v. 11, JUL 31 2020. (15/00106-9, 14/26210-4)

ANA CAROLINA JANSSEN PINTO; GUSTAVO PERINA BERTOLDI; LUANA DORETTO FELIZARI; BRENO LEITE DEMARTINI; EVANDRO FERNANDO FERREIRA DIAS; MARIANA MARTINS SQUIZATTI; ANTONIO MARCOS SILVESTRE; FLAVIO PERNA JUNIOR; LÍGIA GARCIA MESQUITA; JOHNNY MACIEL SOUZA; et al. Influence of nutritional management prior to adaptation to a feedlot diet on ruminal microbiota of Nellore cattle. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE ZOOTECNIA-BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, v. 52, 2023-08-25. (15/00106-9, 14/26210-4)

PEREIRA, M. C. S.; DELLAQUA, J. V. T.; SOUSA, O. A.; SANTI, P. F.; FELIZARI, L. D.; REIS, B. Q.; PINTO, A. C. J.; BERTOLDI, G. P.; SILVESTRE, A. M.; WATANABE, D. H. M.; et al. Feedlot performance, feeding behavior, carcass and rumen morphometrics characteristics of Nellore cattle submitted to strategic diets prior the adaptation period. LIVESTOCK SCIENCE, v. 234, APR 2020. (14/26210-4, 15/00106-9)