Ingestive behavior of Nellore steers supplemented with zilpaterol hydrochloride in feedlot

• Grant number: 14/03416-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2014
• End date: May 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Cyntia Ludovico Martins
• Grantee: Eduardo Castro Guerra de Aguiar Filho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the inclusion or not of Hydrochloride Zilpaterol the ration on feeding behavior of feedlot Nellore . 36 steers, with average weight of 385 kg and from rearing under continuous grazing system will be used. The experimental design is a randomized block with their treatments: T1 - steers without including Hydrochloride Zilpaterol, T2 - steers with including Hydrochloride Zilpaterol . Each treatment will consist of 6 bays (3 animals/pen), which are considered the experimental units for this study . The experimental diets are offered twice a day (8h : 00 15h: 00) . Throughout the experimental period weekly samplings of rations for bromatological analyzes of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), NDF and ADF will be made. The animals should be subjected to visual observation to assess the feeding behavior, observed every five minutes during a 24 hour period. The observation shall be held on the tenth day after the inclusion of Zilpaterol hydrochloride in feed. During the observations data to determine the time spent intake, ruminating and leisure, expressed in minutes are listed. On the observation of ingestive behavior, samples of the total diet and the remains of 12 stalls will be collected for food science analysis and to assess the distribution of particle size using the Penn State Particle Separator (PSPS).