Rumen protected choline supplementation in beef cattle: Effect on growth performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rumen-protected choline administration on growth performance in beef cattle. Thirty-two newly received Charolais steers (420 kg ± 8 kg initial BW), were assigned randomly to one of the two experimental groups: control (CTR), no choline supplementation; choline (RPC), supplemented with 5 g/day choline chloride in rumenprotected form. Experimental period was 122 d long. DMI at different times did not differ between treatments. Supplementation of 5 g of choline increased body weight, and average daily gain on day 89 of the experiment, but not later on. Feed conversion rate and killing out percentage were not affected by the treatment. Therefore ruminally protected choline can improve growth performance of newly received beef cattle, and its inclusion in receiving diet can be useful.