UTILIZATION OF PROBIOTICS "STARBIO" IN THE DIETS FOR BEEF CATTLE THE EFFECTS ON WEIGHT GAIN AND CARCASS QUALITY

Abstract

An experiment has been carried out to investigate the effects of probiotic supplementation in the diets of beef cattle on the weight gain and the carcass quality. Fifty six Ongole grades of approximately 2 years old with an average weight of 249 kg were divided into 4 groups and allocated to flocked pens in which there were 14 individuals in each pen. Two levels of probiotic supplementation into two different-fiber-level concentrates were fed in a gradual increase quantity
depending on the duration of fattening period. Napier grass (Pennisetum  purpureum) was fed ad adbilum after being chopped in approximately 5 cm length. Drinking water was available at any time. Weight changes were recorded every month. The animals were slau@tered afier 120-day period of fattening. Carcass weight backfat thickness, trimmed fat and area of rib-eye was
measured. Results indicated a range of average daily gain (ADG) from 0.9 to 1.08 kg (P>.05) with a mean of dry matter intake of 2.8% of the body weight. The efliciency of feed dry matter utilization for weight gain was slightly better when the ration with 42% neutral detergent fiber content and supplemented with 0.5% probiotic was fed Carcass weight, percentage and trimmed fat were not significantly different among treatment means. It was concluded that the utilization of probiotics at 0.5% of the diets seemed to be adequate since supplementation of probiotics at 1.0% level did not improve the weight gain nor the carcass quality.