Effects of a period of severely restricted feed intake and growth on subsequent appetite, growth and nitrogen balance of friesian steers

Abstract

It is generally accepted that although both plane of nutrition and chemical composition of the diet can have a major effect on body composition when comparisons are made between animals of the same age, these differences are substantially reduced when comparisons are made at the same body weight (Black 1974). There is considerable emphasis being placed on the production of lean meat for human consumption, while at the same time the retail trade is pressing for heavier carcass weights. These two requirements appear incompatible given the fact that the proportion of fat in weight gain increases as the live weight of the animal increases. We suggested (Williams and Macdearmid 1985) that compensatory growth may be used as a method of controlling body composition in beef cattle since the initial phase of compensation may be characterised by rapidly increased muscle growth combined with a reduction in the initial rate of fat deposition. Reports in the literature indicate that animals compensating after a period of feed restriction tend to have a greater appetite than animals of the same weight but grown continuously. The present experiment was designed : o compare and measure appetite and nitrogen balance in beef cattle which were fed continuously or allowed to realimentate after a period of feed restriction.