PSXIV-11 Supplementation of 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D3 and increased vitamin E as a strategy to increase carcass weight of feedlot beef cattle

Abstract

Abstract Our objective was to evaluate the effects of supplementing 1mg of 25-OH vitamin D3 (HyD®) and increased vitamin E amount (2000 mg/animal/d) on cattleˈ performance and carcass characteristics when fed a 90-d feedlot finishing diet. A total of 140 Nellore bulls (IBW = 387 ± 28 kg) were distributed in 14 pens (10 animals/pen) in a randomized complete block design (7 pens per treatment). The basal diet was composed by 15% sugarcane bagasse, 72.8% ground corn, 7.6% soybean meal and 4.6 % mineral-vitamin premix (DM basis). The dietary treatments were: 1) Control: No addition of 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D3 (HyD®) and basal Vit. E amount (520 mg/animal per day); 2) HyD+Vit.E: Addition of 1 mg of HyD® plus increased Vit. E amount (2000 mg/animal per day). The animals were fed once daily and had free access to fresh water. Statistical analysis was performed using the MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4. Means comparison was evaluated by tukey test and declared significant at P < 0.05, and tendencies considered when 0.05 < P < 0.10. There was no difference on final body weight (~522.8 kg, P = 0.11), ADG (~1.54 kg/d, P = 0.17), DM intake (~9.9 kg/d, P = 0.41) and G:F (~0.156, P = 0.28) between treatments. Likewise, no differences were observed (P > 0.10) for dressing (~53.5%), REA (~65.5 cm²) and SFT (~4.10 mm). However, feeding HyD+Vit.E tended to increase (P = 0.07) carcass average daily gain (0.993 vs. 0.953 kg/d) and increased (P = 0.04) carcass weight by 4.2 kg compared with control (281.6 vs. 277.4 kg). In conclusion, the combination of HyD and increased vitamin E increases carcass production in feedlot cattle.