Productive and reproductive performance and blood chemistry on grazing Brahman replacement heifers supplemented with fatty acids and protein

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of calcium salts of long-chain fatty acids (CaLCFA) and protein supplementation on body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), pregnancy rate (PR), and blood chemistry, 57 Brahman heifers with 309.1 ± 3.04 kg BW and 1,010 ± 8.51 days of age, were divided into three BW uniform groups and assigned for 102 days to three treatments under a completely randomized design: 1) grazing forage only (F); 2) F+CaLCFA, and 3) F+CaLCFA+protein-energy mix (CaLCFA+CP) with 453 protein g/kg, containing mainly (g/kg) CaLCFA (200), hydrolyzed feather meal (300), and cornmeal (375). About 0.2 and 1 kg/animal/d of CaLCFA and CaLCFA+CP were offered, respectively, with an average intake of 200 and 192 g/animal/d for the same order of supplements. The breeding period (BP) lasted for 45 days and started 57 days after beginning the supplementation period. Body weight showed a treatment × time interaction (p < 0.01), being different at the end of the BP (348; 338 and 331 kg, respectively for CaLCFA, CaLCFA+CP, and F). Average daily gain (g/d) was higher (p < 0.01) for CaLCFA (358) than for CaLCFA+CP (281), and lower for F (206). Overall, PR was higher (p < 0.05) for CaLCFA+CP (68.4 %) and lower for F (36.8 %). Cholesterol (mg/dL) was higher (p < 0.05) for CaLCFA+CP (139) and lower for F (117). Calcium salts of long-chain fatty acids and CaLCFA+CP supplementation improved BW and ADG of Brahman heifers at first mating, while PR and cholesterol increased only with CaLCFA+CP supplementation.