5 September 2011

2 minute read

Introduction

However, this type of diet can have negative effects on microbial fermentation, due to the creation of an environment that depresses nutrient utilization, feed consumption and consequently, animal performance. The use of specific strains of live yeast have been associated with the reduction of acidosis problems, increased digestibility, and the improved performance of Nellore cattle.

Objective

To evaluate the use of live yeast culture (Beef-Sacc) replacing the Na bicarbonate on the performance and carcass traits of Nellore cattle fed high concentrate diets in the finishing phase.

Material and methods

• 80 Nellore cattle (40 neutered; 40 non-neutered)
• Department of Animal Science – FZEA/USP
• Completely randomized block design
• 2 treatments (Table 1)
• 40 replicates per treatment
• Slaughter – day 62 or 84

• Performance parameters: dry matter intake (DMI), weight gain, and feed efficiency
• Carcass traits by ultrasound at the beginning and end of the trial period.
  • Loin eye area and fat thickness – 12th rib
  • Subcutaneous fat thickness

• Data were analyzed using ANOVA (SAS).
• The model considered the fixed effects of blocks (gender), treatments and the interaction between them.

Results

• The weight gain of cattle fed Beef-Sacc tended to be higher by the end of the trial (P=0.0918; Table 2);
• There was no effect of the treatments on the DM intake and weight gain.
• The feed efficiency of cattle fed Beef-Sacc was better (P=0.0218) compared with cattle fed sodium bicarbonate (0.165 vs 0.154 gained/DM (kg)).
• Carcass traits were not affected by treatments (Table 3).

Conclusion

The feeding of live yeast (Beef-SaccTM) helped improve ruminal condition, thus increasing feed efficiency and reducing production costs.