Blood parameters of Angus and Nellore young bulls fed diets with or without forage.

Abstract

We evaluated blood parameters of Angus and Nellore bulls fed diets with and without forage. Forty animals with initial body weight (BW) of 380±16.2 kg were housed in individual stalls. Eight bulls of each breed were fed a whole shelled corn (WSC) diet [850 g kg −1 of WCS and 150 g kg −1 of a pellet based on soybean meal, dry mater (DM) basis] or a ground corn with silage (GC) diet (300 g kg −1 of silage and 700 g kg −1 of a concentrate based on corn and soybean meal, DM basis), ad libitum, and four animals of each breed were limited-fed the GC diet [feed restriction (FR), 55% of the DM intake of bulls fed ad libitum, adjusted for the metabolic BW]. Intake was measured daily, and a metabolism trial was conducted with total collection of feces and urine to estimate the ruminally degraded and undegraded protein (intake and nitrogen balance). Blood samples for determination of hormones and metabolites were collected. The data were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS adopting a significance level of 0.05. The diet affected only the serum concentrations of triglycerides, HDL, and VLDL, with limitedfed animals presenting smaller concentrations than ad libitum-fed bulls. No difference in blood parameters was observed between animals fed WSC or GC diets. Nellore bulls presented greater T4, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and serum urea nitrogen concentrations than Angus. Feeding finishing beef cattle with no-roughage diets does not alter their blood parameters. Also, our results support that Zebu cattle might have lower serum removal of nutrients due to a lesser demand for fat and protein deposition than Bos taurus taurus.

Seric Concentration of Reproductive Hormones and Minerals in Prepubertal and Pubertal Polled Nellore Bulls

“…This is the first report evaluating plasma THs concentrations in Nellore polled bulls from 12 to 24 months. In this study, the results of T3 (1.31 ± 0.12 ng dl -1 ) and T (2.32 ± 0.10 ng dl -1 ) were different as described by Rennó et al (2019; 1.77 ng ml -1 for T³ and 9.65 µg dl -1 ou 965,000 ng dl -1 ) in finishing Nellore Bulls (B. indicus) in a feedlot perspective. In our study, plasmatic T3 concentration remained constant until 15 months of age with an increase at maximum concentration with 18 months of age, period related to spermatogenic stabilization phase (OHASHI et al, 2007).…”