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Apparent digestibility and ingestive behavior of Nellore bulls with low and high residual feed intake

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the correlation between ingestive behavior, apparent digestibility, and residual feed intake (RFI) of finishing Nellore bulls fed a high concentrate diet. One hundred and twenty Nellore bulls, housed in individual pens, were evaluated in individual performance tests. The animals were fed a high concentrate diet (23:77 roughage/concentrate ratio). The animals were classified as low RFI, medium RFI, and high RFI. Data from ten animals from each group were used. Fecal production and nutrient digestibility were calculated using indigestible neutral detergent fiber as an internal marker. The feeding behavior was evaluated over 24 h by direct observation every 5 min. The most efficient animals (low RFI, 8.58 kg DM/day) consumed 27.62% less feed than the least efficient animals (high RFI, 10.95 kg DM/day). Animals with medium efficiency (mean RFI, 9.49 kg DM/day) consumed 15.39% less than high RFI. Nutrient digestibility coefficients were similar except for ether extract (P < 0.03) which was 8% greater for the high-RFI animals. No effect was observed for ingestive behavior (P > 0.05). Animals spent, on average, 3 h 28 min feeding, 7 h 32 min ruminating, and 13 h 40 min in idle time. In the present study, ingestive behavior and dry matter digestibility were not responsible for between-animal variation in residual feed intake in Nellore bulls fed a high concentrate diet.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Nelore Qualitas.

Funding

This study was funded by Nelore Qualitas. The funders had no role in data collection, analysis, interpretation, or decision to publish the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal de Goias, Av. Esperanca, Goiania, Goias, Brazil

    Rayanne Galdino Menezes, Juliano José de Resende Fernandes, Alana Maria Menezes Di Calaça, Emmanuel Arnhold & Victor Rezende Moreira Couto

  2. Department of Animal Science, Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marcia Helena Machado da Rocha Fernandes

Authors
  1. Rayanne Galdino Menezes
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  2. Juliano José de Resende Fernandes
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  3. Alana Maria Menezes Di Calaça
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  4. Emmanuel Arnhold
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  5. Marcia Helena Machado da Rocha Fernandes
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  6. Victor Rezende Moreira Couto
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Victor Rezende Moreira Couto; methodology: Victor Rezende Moreira Couto; formal analysis and investigation: Rayanne Galdino Menezes; writing — original draft preparation: Rayanne Galdino Menezes; writing — review and editing: Alana Maria Menezes Di Calaça, Marcia Helena Machado da Rocha Fernandes; funding acquisition: Juliano José de Resende Fernandes; supervision: Juliano José de Resende Fernandes; project administration: Juliano José de Resende Fernandes; software: Emmanuel Arnhold.

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Correspondence to Alana Maria Menezes Di Calaça.

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The study was approved by the Ethics Committee on Animal Use, protocol no. 078/12, at the Federal University of Goias.

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Menezes, R.G., de Resende Fernandes, J.J., Di Calaça, A.M.M. et al. Apparent digestibility and ingestive behavior of Nellore bulls with low and high residual feed intake. Trop Anim Health Prod 54, 294 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03305-5

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