Intake, apparent digestibility, and nutrient requirements for growing Nellore heifers and steers fed two levels of calcium and phosphorus

Abstract

Nutrient apparent digestibility, intake, performance, microbial efficiency, and energy and protein requirements for growing Nellore heifers and steers were evaluated, fifty animals were used, 32 Nellore heifers and 18 Nellore steers. Four animals of each gender used as baseline reference animals were slaughtered at the beginning of the experiment. Four animals from each gender were fed at MAIN receiving 11g/kgBW, whereas 10 steers and 24 heifers were assigned to the ADLIB group. The ADLIB heifers were divided further into 4 groups according to the dietary treatment: (1) Ca and P fed at their proposed requirements (CaPR) with a 50:50 roughage:concentrate (R:C) diet, (2) CaPR with a 70:30 R:C diet, (3) 43% of their proposed requirements for Ca and 80% of their requirements for P (CaPL) with a 50:50 R:C diet, and (4) CaPL with a 70:30 R:C diet. The ADLIB and MAIN steers were fed CaPR with a 50:50 R:C diet. Half of the ADLIB steers and heifers were slaughtered at day 50; the other ADLIB animals were slaughtered after 100 days of the feeding period, whereas all MAIN animals were slaughtered at day 100. Total feces and urine were collected from all animals for 72h prior to slaughter. After slaughter, EBW was measured. The NEm and MEm requirements were estimated by exponentially relating heat production with metabolizable energy intake; NEg was estimated from EBW and EBG. The NPg was estimated from EBG and RE. Dry matter digestibility and the apparent absorption and retention of Ca and P were similar across Ca and P treatments. Final body weight, and consequently ADG, was greater (P<0.05) for heifers receiving the high concentrate compared to the low concentrate diet, but dietary Ca and P concentration did not affect (P>0.05) performance. The NEm and MEm requirements were 294 and 496kJ/kgEBW0.75, respectively. Net protein for maintenance was 1.28g/kgBW0.75 and NEg and NPg were estimated from the following equations: NEg=0.222×EBW0.75×EBG0.6263 and NPg=137.53×EBG−0.038×RE, respectively. Under the conditions of this experiment, reducing the dietary concentrations of Ca and P had no significant impact on intake, digestibility, or performance of growing Nellore heifers and steers.