Urea or poultry litter as protein supplements for bulls fed peach-palm pulp silage (Bactris gasipaes)

Abstract

A 122 days trial was conducted with 24 bulls of 382 kg randomly assigned to three treatments: 1. grazing and peach-palm pulp silage (control); 2. grazing and peach-palm pulp silage plus poultry litter, and 3. grazing and peach-palm pulp silage plus urea. Animals grazed Ischaemun ciliaris and Cynodon nlemfuensis mixed with Paspalum fasciculatum. The peachpalm pulp silage was fed at 1%BW and the protein source was offered at 3 g of N 100 g^-1 of fermentable carbohydrate from the peach-palm. The supplement was fed twice a day. Intake of peachpalm silage, poultry litter and urea ranged between 4-5 kg; 1-2 kg and 0,055-0,080 kg as fed per animal per day during the trial, respectively. Feeding a protein supplement increased daily body gain from 0.719 of the control to 1.034 and 1.021 kg for poultry litter and urea treatment, respectively. Carcass weight was increased (P<0.05) by 10% in bulls fed the protein supplements. No differences were detected among protein-supplement treatments. It is concluded that beef cattle performance can be improved by using peach-palm pulp silage supplemented with urea or poultry litter.