Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-t6hkb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T14:20:08.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changes in the body composition of beef cattle during compensatory growth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

I A. Wright  and
A. J. F. Russel
I A. Wright
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Pentlandfield, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RF
A. J. F. Russel
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Pentlandfield, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RF
Get access

Abstract

Forty-two weaned suckled Charolais-cross steers were used to measure changes in body composition during compensatory growth in growing cattle. Six cattle were slaughtered initially and the remaining 36 allocated to either a low level of feeding to 350 kg live weight followed by a high level (LH) or a high level of feeding throughout (HH). Above 350 kg live weight, food intake on both treatments was the same at any given live weight. Six cattle were slaughtered from each treatment at 350, 400 and 450 kg live weight. From initial live weight (259 kg) to 350 kg, live-weight gains were 0·45 and 0·78 kg/day for the LH and HH treatments respectively (P < 0·001). From 350 to 400 kg live weight, live-weight gains were 1·35 and 0·98 kg/day (P < 0·01) for the LH and HH cattle respectively, while from 400 to 450 kg live weight there was no significant difference (1·38 v. 1·20 kg/day). The LH cattle contained less fat in the empty body than the HH cattle at 350 kg (118 v. 153 g/kg; P < 0·05) and 400 kg live weight (117 v. 169 g/kg; P < 0·01), but at 450 kg there was no significant difference between treatments. From 350 to 400 kg live weight the composition of the empty body-weight gain was 663 g water, ' 108 g fat and 216 g protein per kg in the LH cattle and 422 kg water, 311 g fat and 173 g protein in the HH cattle. From 400 to 450 kg live weight the equivalent figures were 491, 291, 156 g/kg for the LH cattle and 744, 67 and 203 g/kg for the HH cattle. The results demonstrate that following a period of food restriction the empty body-weight gain of cattle initially comprises increased proportions of protein and water and a reduced proportion of fat compared with unrestricted cattle when both are given the same amount of food and compared at the same weight. There then follows a second phase in which the proportion of fat increases and the proportions of protein and water decrease.

Keywords

beef cattlebody compositiongrowth
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 105 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Alexander, R. H. and Mcgowan, N. 1966. The routine determination of in vitro digestibility of organic matter in forages — an investigation of the problems associated with continuous large-scale operation. Journal of the British Grassland Society 21: 140–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allden, W. G. 1970. The effects of nutritional deprivation on the subsequent productivity of sheep and cattle. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews 40: 1167–1184.Google ScholarPubMed
Baker, R. D., Young, N. E. and Laws, J. A. 1985. Changes in the body composition of cattle exhibiting compensatory growth and the modifying effects of grazing management. Animal Production 41: 309–321.Google Scholar
Coleman, S. W. and Evans, B. C. 1986. Effect of nutrition, age and size on compensatory growth in two breeds of steers. Journal of Animal Science 63: 1968–1982.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foot, J. Z. and Tulloh, N. H. 1977. Effects of two paths of live-weight change on the efficiency of feed use and on body composition of Angus steers. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88: 135–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, D. G., Johnson, R. R., Preston, R. L., Dockerty, T. R. and Klosterman, E. W. 1972. Protein and energy utilization during compensatory growth in beef cattle. Journal of Animal Science 34: 310–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, N. McC. and Searle, T. W. 1975. Studies of weaned sheep during and after a period of weight stasis. I. Energy and nitrogen utilization. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 26: 343–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawes Agricultural Trust. 1984. Genstat V Mark 4.04B. Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfortshire.Google Scholar
Leche, T. F. 1973. Proportions of carcass and offal components in Jersey and Friesian bulls in relation to plane of nutrition. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 24: 623–631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ledger, H. P. and Sayers, A. R. 1977. The utilization of dietary energy by steers during periods of restricted food intake and subsequent realimentation. 1. The effect of time on the maintenance requirements of steers held at constant live weights. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88: 11–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, J. H., Hull, J. L., Weitkamp, W. H. and Bonilla, S. E. 1965. Compensatory growth responses of fattening steers following various low energy intake regimes on hay or irrigated pasture. Journal of Animal Science 24: 29–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Donovan, P. B. 1984. Compensatory gain in cattle and sheep. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews — Series B 54: 389–410.Google Scholar
O'Donovan, P. B., Conway, A. and O'Shea, J. 1972. A study of the herbage intake and efficiency of feed utilization of grazing cattle previously fed two winter planes of nutrition. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 78: 87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russel, A. J. F. and Wright, I. A. 1983. Factors affecting maintenance requirements of beef cows. Animal Production 37: 329–334.Google Scholar
Saubidet, C. L. and Verde, L. S. 1976. Relationship between live weight, age and dry-matter intake for beef cattle after different levels of food restriction. Animal Production 22: 61–69.Google Scholar
Seebeck, R. M. 1967. Developmental growth and body weight loss of cattle. I. Experimental design, body weight growth, and the effects of developmental growth and body weight loss on the dressed carcass and the offal. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 18: 1015–1031.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, E. F., Bickel, H. and Schurch, A. 1982. Growth performance and metabolic changes in lambs and steers after mild nutritional restriction. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 98: 183–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilley, J. M. and Terry, R. A. 1963. A two-stage technique for the in vitro digestion of forage crops. Journal of the British Grassland Society 18: 104–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, P. N. and Osbourn, D. F. 1960. Compensatory growth after undernutrition in mammals and birds. Biological Reviews 35: 324–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wright, I. A. and Russel, A. J. F. 1984. Partition of fat, body composition and body condition score in mature cows. Animal Production 38: 23–32.Google Scholar
Wright, I. A., Russel, A. J. F. and Hunter, E. A. 1986. The effect of winter food level on compensatory growth of weaned, suckled calves grazed at two sward heights. Animal Production 43: 211–223.Google Scholar
Wright, I. A., Russel, A. J. F. and Hunter, E. A.1987. The effects of genotype and post-weaning nutrition on compensatory growth in cattle reared as singles or twins. Animal Production 45: 423–432.Google Scholar