Non-carcass components of cattle finished in feedlot with high grain diet

Abstract

The objective of this study was to quantify the non-carcass components of steers and heifers finished in feedlot and fed with high grain diets. Altogether, 45 Charolais and Nellore crossbred cattle of two categories, 21 heifers with an initial age of 32 months and 24 steers with an initial age of 20 months, were used. The animals were fed with diets of 100% concentrate and divided in groups according to the energy source used in the form of rice, white oat, or corn; each diet group had seven heifers and eight steers. The experimental design was completely randomized with a factorial 3 ´ 2 arrangement, using P<0.05. The slaughter weight and empty body weight were higher in animals fed with corn (430.4 and 379.1 kg, respectively) or white oat (449.3 and 378.0 kg, respectively) as compared to animals fed with rice (401.9 and 341.0 kg, respectively). With the exception of heart and abomasum fat, all other adipose tissue deposits were lower in animals fed with rice. The steers showed higher development of internal organs (3.67% versus 3.24%), feet (2.33% versus 2.06%), and total peripheral components (15.9% versus 15.1%), while heifers presented higher total fat deposition (6.45% versus 5.75%), as expressed in relation to empty body weight. Thus, the use of high grain diets based on corn or white oat in the finishing of cattle leads to higher development of internal organs and digestive tract, while feed with rice grain provides less deposition of adipose tissue.