Influence Of Concentrate Levels In Diet And Body Biotypes On Productive Variables Of Guzera Beef Cattle

The goal of this study was evaluate diets (50 or 80% of concentrate) and body biotypes (late or early) on performance, behavior, carcass condition, meat quality, and feed cost estimates in feedlot finishing Guzera beef cattle. Use of concentrates in the diet may improve performance and carcass fat scores in ruminant animals, but Guzera beef cattle may be more efficient in forage conversion, which directly influences the economic viability of the production system. We evaluated 32 non-castrated male Guzera beef cattle at 32±2 months of age. The experimental design was completely randomized with four treatments and six replicates in a 2 × 2 factorial design (2 diets × 2 body biotypes). Initial and final body weights were 459.4±31.2 kg and 566.7±40.8 kg, respectively. There was no change (P > 0.05) in dry matter intake, feed conversion, or daily weight gain when the concentrate in the diet was increased to 80%. Animals fed a diet with 80% of concentrate spent less time (P < 0.05) ruminating (17.8±6.3 vs. 6.3±2.7% of the assessed time). Body biotype did not alter the variables. The rise from 50 to 80% in the proportion of dietary concentrate increased carcass fat, with positive returns in the production process, even given the reduction in rumination, which can lead to poor welfare of animals consuming 80% of dietary concentrate. Body biotype did not affect the variables studied, but it is worth emphasizing that the age at slaughter of these animals probably influenced this result. Thus, selection of the best diet should be based on feeding cost, and in accordance with the cost estimated in this study, the diet with 80% of concentrate is the most suitable for feedlot finished Guzera beef cattle.3764305431

Racional management raises the Guzerat cattle welfare and improve the efficiency of vaccination work.

The experiment was done in the Teaching, Research and Extension Farm (FEPE - UNESP/Ilha Solteira). One hundred and twenty Guzerat cattle of different ages were used in the study: 40 mature cows, 40 yearling steers and 40 calves. Twenty animals of each category were vaccinated by rational management and the other 20 by conventional method. For calves, when they were submitted to rational management during the vaccination process, the management efficiency indicators showed lower averages, with lower time of work execution (P <0.001), repetitive introduction of the needle and bleeding at the injection site (P <0.05); as well as on the behaviors like reacting to the introduction of needle (P <0.01), body movement (P <0.001), jump up on another animal and attempting to or/jumping out of chute (P <0.05). In the category of mature cows, the rational management also resulted in lower values of vaccine losses (P <0.05), bleeding at the injection site, time of work execution and application of the vaccine in the wrong location (P <0.001), as well as some behaviors like reacting to the introduction of needle (P <0.01) and body movement (P <0.001). Similarly, the results obtained for yearling steers also showed significant differences between the two types of management used, with lowest average in the rational management on the indicators such as time of work execution and application of the vaccine in the wrong location (P <0.001), and behaviors such as body movement (P<0.01) and attempting to escape/jumping out of the chute (P <0.05). In this context, it is noted that the conventional management of vaccination possibly caused a sense of threat in animals, emphasizing fear and escape reactions, making the routine management more difficult, causing loss material and quality loss in the final product (beef), and increase the risk of accidents due to more aggressive behaviour toward the operator