Phosphorus supplementation of Nellore steers fed Yaragua/Stylo mixture in the Peruvian tropics.
Twenty-four yearling 11-month old Nellore steers initially weighing 180 kg were assigned to three treatments in a randomised complete block experiment lasting 392 days. Animals grazed continuously either Yaragua grass (Hyparrhenia rufa) or Yaragua/Stylo legume (Stylosanthes guianensis) and received the following treatments: A) Control, Yaragua plus common salt, B) Yaragua/Stylo plus common salt, and C) Yaragua/Stylo plus dicalcium phosphate/common salt (1:1). Mineral consumption in the three groups averaged 52 g per animal day-1. At 13 months daily liveweight gains/steer were 0.182, 0.409 and 0.483 kg for treatments of Yaragua, Yaragua/Stylo, and Yaragua/Stylo plus dicalcium phosphate/common salt mixture. Daily liveweight gains per ha were 0.488, 1.289, and 1.522 kg steer-1 for Yaragua, Yaragua/Stylo plus common salt and Yaragua/Stylo plus dicalcium phosphate/common salt. Steers receiving a legume (stylo) in the diet more than doubled weight gains (P less than 0.05) compared to controls with dicalcium phosphate further (P less than 0.05) increasing these gains.
Echevarria
M G
MG
IVITA Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Pucallpa, Peru.
Reyes
C
C
Clavo
N
N
Rodriguez
J
J
Valdivia
R
R
McDowell
L R
LR
D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D007887:Fabaceae; D010568:Peru; D010758:Phosphorus; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D006109:Poaceae
D010758:Phosphorus