DESEMPENHO E CARACTERÍSTICAS DE CARCAÇA DE BOVINOS DA RAÇA NELORE SUBMETIDOS A DIFERENTES ESTRATÉGIAS DE SUPLEMENTAÇÃO

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and the carcass characteristics of Nellore bulls, finished under a grazing system, using different supplementation strategies. Fifty-four bulls (507 ± 32.9 kg body weight [BW] and approximately 24 months old) were distributed in a randomized complete block design, and submitted to three treatments: PS – protein supplement (0.2% of BW); PES-1 – protein-energy supplement (0.2% of BW); PES-2 – protein-energy supplement (0.9% of BW). The variables evaluated were: average daily gain (ADG), final body weight (FBW), hot carcass weight (HCW) and hot carcass yield (HCY). The supplement PES-2 promoted greater ADG when compared to the others (P<0.05). Regarding FBW and HCW, PES-2 promoted 30.5 kg and 28.9 kg increase, respectively, when compared to PS (P<0.05). The HCY of animals supplemented with PES-1 and PES-2 were similar, but greater than the ones from animals supplemented with PS (P<0.05). The supplementation strategy which results the best performance and carcass characteristics was the protein-energy supplement (0.9% of BW), implying the reduction of age at slaughter and, consequently, the reduction of the production cycle.