Pre-fattening of crossbred dairy bulls grazing herbaceous legumes, with biomass bank and rumen activator supplement

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Aslan D?az
Emilio Castillo
Pedro Martin
Jorge Luis Hern?ndez

Abstract

The productive performance was evaluated in 24 crossbred 5/8 Holstein x 3/8 Zebu dairy bulls. They were under grazing conditions during the dry season and they were included in the pre-fattening category. They grazed in alternative days in six hectares with mixtures of glycine (Neonotonia wightii) and grasses. They had access to two hectares of biomass bank of Pennisetum purpureum cv. Cuba CT-115. They consumed 1.5 kg of supplement that activates the rumen fermentation per animal per day, with 15.20 % of CP and 9.33 MJ of ME. The total stocking rate was of three animals per hectare. The occupation and resting times were of 8 and 56 d, respectively. The auto-grazing was used. The grazing area was not fertilized or irrigated. Four hundred and ninety-one grams of ADG (average daily gain) of LW were obtained in the 228 d of this category and there was a total of 789 kg of LW.ha-1. The nutritive quality of the CT-115 limited the fulfillment of the nutritional allowances. With this genotype, it is necessary to reduce the stocking rate or improve the supplementation, if the duration of the category is intended to be reduced or the ADG is intended to be increased to get access to more lucrative markets.
Key words: productive performance, bulls, legumes, Pennisetum purpureum Cuba CT- 115.

Article Details

How to Cite
D?az, A., Castillo, E., Martin, P., & Hern?ndez, J. L. (2011). Pre-fattening of crossbred dairy bulls grazing herbaceous legumes, with biomass bank and rumen activator supplement. Cuban Journal of Agricultural Science, 45(1). Retrieved from https://cjascience.com/index.php/CJAS/article/view/183
Section
Animal Science
Author Biographies

Aslan D?az

Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Apartado Postal 24, San Jos? de las Lajas, Mayabeque, Cuba

Emilio Castillo

Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Apartado Postal 24, San Jos? de las Lajas, Mayabeque, Cuba

Pedro Martin

Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Apartado Postal 24, San Jos? de las Lajas, Mayabeque, Cuba

Jorge Luis Hern?ndez

Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Apartado Postal 24, San Jos? de las Lajas, Mayabeque, Cuba

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