Abstract
Simple SummaryThe persistent effects of maternal nutrition on subsequent offspring health and performance have drawn great attention in both the livestock industry and human health field in recent years. Trace minerals play very important roles in nutrition and regulate many critical biological processes. Therefore, trace mineral status of the dam has the potential to influence early growth and development of the fetus, which leads to long-lasting effects on animal health and growth performance. This study demonstrated that maternal supplementation of trace minerals increased the percentage of carcasses graded as USDA Choice or greater, but maternal trace mineral injections had limited effects on finishing phase growth performance and other carcass characteristics of the offspring. Stakeholders of the cow/calf and feedlot operations should consider these results as they make decisions on maternal trace mineral administrations.The objective of this study was to investigate effects of maternal supplementation with an injectable trace mineral (Cu, Mn, Zn, and Se) on subsequent steer performance during the finishing phase. Seventy-six Angus cross steers (initial body weight 249 ± 41.5 kg) from dams administered either an injectable trace mineral (TM; Multimin 90) or sterilized physiological saline (CON) during prepartum stage were used. Individual feed intake during the finishing phase were recorded with GrowSafe feed bunks. Blood and liver biopsy samples were collected to evaluate trace mineral status. Steers were slaughtered at 413 ± 26 days of age and carcass data were obtained at a commercial abattoir. Growth performance or mineral status of the steers during the finishing phase was not affected (p ≥ 0.14) by maternal treatments. Carcass characteristics were not different (p ≥ 0.18), except steers from TM dams had greater (p = 0.05) percentage of carcasses graded as Choice or greater. In conclusion, maternal supplementation of an injectable trace mineral increased the percentage of carcasses graded as Choice or greater, other than that, maternal supplementation had limited influence on finishing phase growth performance, trace mineral status, or carcass characteristics of the subsequent steer progeny.
Highlights
For grazing beef cows, supplementation of minerals is needed for optimal reproduction, immune function, lactation, and growth [1,2,3,4]
The growth performance of the steer progeny during the finishing phase was not affected by maternal trace mineral injections
Marques et al [19] reported that the finishing phase average daily gain (ADG) of the calves was not affected by maternal trace mineral supplementation
Summary
Supplementation of minerals is needed for optimal reproduction, immune function, lactation, and growth [1,2,3,4]. Voluntary intake fluctuations of the animals are difficult to manage for these common methods of supplementation. An injectable trace mineral provides producers opportunity to deliver specific amounts individually without comprehensive interactions within the gastrointestinal tract [6,7]. On the other hand, studies indicated that postnatal trace mineral injections at anticipated periods of stress could have beneficial effects on the immune system [8,9] and could reduce morbidity and mortality in early life [10,11]. The effects of prenatal/maternal trace mineral injections on offspring growth performance are not fully understood yet
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