Performance of Canchim and Nellore cattle on pasture.

Abstract

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the performance of Canchim and Nellore cattle on pasture. One hundred and twenty eight animals, half of each by breed and sex, were alloted to eight pastures of Andropogon gayanusand eight pastures of A. gayanus and Calopogonio mucunoides, in a two year experiment. The traits studied were average daily gain (DG) during the rainy (R₁ and R₂) and dry (D₁) seasons and during the total period (T), and final weights (FW) in each of these periods. The Canchim animals gained, on the average, more (P<0.01) during R₂ (0.874 x 0.762 kg/an/day) and T (0.530 x 0.495 kg/an/day) and were heavier (P<0.01) at the end of all periods (253k9 X 255 kg for R₁; 294 kg x 269 kg for D₁; and 459 kg x 413 kg for R₂), as compared to the Nellore ones.