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Intake, digestibility, performance, and carcass traits of beef cattle of different gender

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Abstract

The performance, intake, feed efficiency, and carcass traits of beef cattle from different gender profile were assessed. Fifteen animals (five steers, five spayed heifers, and five intact heifers) with ±250 kg of initial body weight were randomly assigned in individual pens and fed the same diet for 106 days. At the end of the trial, all the animals were slaughtered and the pH, temperature, and weight of the carcass were recorded. The right side of each carcass was then separated into chuck, shoulder, flank sirloin, and round for evaluation of commercial cuts yield. The left carcass sides were ribbed between the 12th and 13th ribs where the rib eye area and fat thickness measurements were taken. The 9th–11th rib section was removed from the left half carcass and then dissected into muscle, fat, and bones in order to estimate carcass composition. Gender had no effect (P > 0.05) on performance, intake, digestibility of dry matter and all the nutrients evaluated, feed efficiency, and carcass characteristics. It can be concluded that steers and heifers (spayed or not) have the same potential to produce beef. From a productive and welfare standpoint, there is no reason to spay heifers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Federal do Vale do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 39100-000

    Igor Nero Kelles Lage

  2. Departamento de Zootecnia, Researchers of INCT Ciência Animal, CNPq, Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 36570-000

    Pedro Veiga Rodruigues Paulino, Marcio de Souza Duarte, Sebastião de Campos Valadares Filho, Mario Fonseca Paulino, Bernardo Alves Maia, Luiz Henrique Pereira Silva & Cesar Roberto Vianna Teixeira

  3. Departamento de Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade Federal de São João Del Rei (UFSJ), Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 35701-970

    Christiano Vieira Pires & Severino Delmar Junqueira Villela

Authors
  1. Igor Nero Kelles Lage
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  2. Pedro Veiga Rodruigues Paulino
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  3. Christiano Vieira Pires
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  4. Severino Delmar Junqueira Villela
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  5. Marcio de Souza Duarte
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  6. Sebastião de Campos Valadares Filho
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  7. Mario Fonseca Paulino
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  8. Bernardo Alves Maia
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  9. Luiz Henrique Pereira Silva
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  10. Cesar Roberto Vianna Teixeira
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Correspondence to Marcio de Souza Duarte.

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Lage, I.N.K., Paulino, P.V.R., Pires, C.V. et al. Intake, digestibility, performance, and carcass traits of beef cattle of different gender. Trop Anim Health Prod 44, 361–367 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-011-0030-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-011-0030-z

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