ENERGETIC SOURCES FOR SUPPLEMENTATION OF EARLY WEANED BEEF CALVES KEPT ON ELEPHANT GRASS PASTURE (Pennisetum pupureum, SCHUM.)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The experiment was conducted with the objective to evaluate the effect of different energetic sources on the performance of early weaned beef calves, submitted to continuous grazing on pasture of Elephant Grass Taiwan A146. The energetic sources tested were ground corn grain, soybean hulls and rice bran, besides a mixture of the three energetic sources. The amount offered was equivalent to 1% of the live weight, dry matter basis. The average pasture forage mass of the whole plant was 7285.59 kg of dry matter/ha, with 34.31% of leaves. No influence was observed for the energetic sources on the average daily weight gain, being .867; .841; .753 and .817 kg for soybean hulls, ground corn grain, rice bran and the mixture, respectively. The average daily weight gain showed a quadratic response according to the experimental periods (1,119-0,024X+0,00034X2). The final weight was higher for calves supplemented with ground corn grain (162 kg) than for those supplemented with rice bran (156 kg), both not differing from those supplemented with soybean hulls (160 kg) or the mixture (158 kg).The final body condition was higher for animals that received soybean hulls and the mixture (3.62 and 3.64, respectively), comparing with those that received ground corn grain or rice bran (3.48 and 3.43, respectively). Key Words: Body condition, soybean hulls, rice bran, corn grain, weight gain