DESEMPENHO E COMPOSIÇÃO CORPORAL DE BEZERROS NELORE PROVENIENTES DE MATRIZES DE DIFERENTES CLASSES DE CONSUMO ALIMENTAR RESIDUAL

The present work was carried out with the objective of evaluating the influence of the Nellore cow residual feed intake (RFI) group on the growth potential of their calf crops from birth to weaning. Performance and ultrasound measures of 54 calves, born from cows of opposite RFI groups, were taken to determine birth weight, body weight at 120 days, body weight at 210 days, rib eye area, back fat thicknessand rump fat thickness. Data were analyzed by SAS MIXED procedure, considering as fixed effects cow RFI group, calf sex and year of birth. Least square means were compared by t test, at 5% of probability level. No significant differences were found between cow RFI groups in calves performance or body composition traits. The cow feed efficiency class does not influence the growth potential or body composition of calves from birth to weaning in Nellore cattle.