Penampilan Produksi Sapi Brahman Cross Jantan Kastrasi pada Berbagai Lama Waktu Penggemukan yang Berbeda

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to investigate the growth rate, carcass production, the retail cut, and meat physical quality of Brahman Cross steer kept with various fattening duration. Eighteen (18) Brahman Cross steers of approximately 2,0 to 2,5 year old and the average of liveweight of 320.11 ± 2.22 kg were used in this study, and were randomly divided into three (3) trial units, namely 2, 3 and 4 months fattening duration_ The animals were kept a feedlot system in grouped barn with similar ration. The ration applied consisted of 80% concentrate, 5% of fermented brewers' grains (FBG) and 15% King grass. The feed and water were given ad libitum. The collected data were analyzed by analysis of variance, followed by testing the significant means by Duncan's New Multiple-Range Test. The result indicated that the 2 months fattening duration resulted in the highest gainweight. The average of daily gain (ADG) for 2, 3 and 4 months fattening duration was 1.25, 1.04 and 0.85 kg, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments on percentages of carcass, bone, meat and fat, respectively. The preliminary yield grade, percentage of retail cut and meat physical quality did not differ significantly. The two months fattening duration was profitable if sold as live animal, while the purpose of high qualitproduct could be achieved by relatively long fattening duration.(Key words : Brahman Cross steer, Fattening duration, Performance.