Nutrition is one of the most important factors that affect animal performance, and it therefore also impacts on financial results in beef systems. In this way, finding the best strategy for feeding supplements is of paramount importance. Aiming to evaluate the effect of supplement feeding strategies for beef cows in the last third of gestation, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, 35 pregnant Nellore cows were assigned to a completely randomized design with four treatments: control, which received no supplement; supplementation for the last 30 d of gestation (30-d; 3.0 kg/d); supplementation for the last 60 d of gestation (60-d; 1.5 kg/d); or supplementation for the last 90 d of gestation (90-d; 1.0 kg/d). All supplemented treatments received the same total amount of supplement throughout the experiment: 90 kg (20% of crude protein). A second experiment (Experiment 2) was delineated to evaluate the effects of the amounts offered in Experiment 1 on intake and metabolism. Four multiparous pregnant Nellore cows were assigned to a 4 × 4 Latin square design, with periods of 15 d each. There was a linear effect of the number of days of supplementation on calving body weight (BW; P < 0.05) and a quadratic effect on BW change from parturition to d 31 post-calving (P < 0.05), with cows on the 60-d strategy losing less BW post-calving. No difference was found in offspring birth BW (P > 0.10). A significant linear effect on interval from parturition to conception (P < 0.05) was observed, with the highest calving to conception interval being observed in the 90-d strategy. The level of supplementation did not affect forage intake or neutral detergent fiber digestibility (P > 0.10). Nitrogen excreted through urine tended to increase linearly with the level of supplementation (P < 0.10). Providing 1.5 kg of supplement during the last 60 d of gestation improves cow performance after calving, reducing the magnitude of BW lost, and reduces the number of days from calving to re-conception in the following breeding season compared to the usually recommended period of supplementation of 90 d pre-partum.

Avaliou-se o efeito de níveis de proteína bruta em suplementos sobre o desempenho, consumo, digestibilidade e eficiência microbiana. Foram utilizadas 40 novilhas Nelore, com idade inicial média de oito meses e peso inicial médio de 230 + 3,39 kg. Os suplementos avaliados foram: mistura mineral fornecida ad libitum (MM), suplementos contendo 10%, 20%, 30% e 40% de proteína bruta (PB), constituindo os tratamentos PB10, PB20, PB30, PB40, respectivamente. Observou-se maior peso corporal final (PCF) e ganho médio diário de peso (GMD) nos animais suplementados em relação aos não suplementados (P<0,10). Os consumos de todos os nutrientes foram maiores (P<0,10) nos animais suplementados em relação aos não suplementados. O consumo de proteína bruta apresentou efeito linear crescente, com o aumento dos níveis de PB nos suplementos. Observou-se efeito quadrático na digestibilidade da PB com o aumento dos níveis de PB nos suplementos. A produção de nitrogênio microbiano (Nmic), nitrogênio ureico no soro (NUS) e a relação nitrogênio ureico na urina/nitrogênio da creatinina (NUU/Ncre) foram maiores (P<0,10) em animais suplementados. Observou-se efeito quadrático sobre a produção de Nmic, eficiência microbiana (Emic), NUS e NUU/Ncre com o aumento dos níveis de PB nos suplementos múltiplos. A suplementação múltipla proporciona maiores ganhos de peso e peso corporal final no período pós desmama de novilhas Nelore.  

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different energy sources - corn, sorghum, and wheat bran - on performance, intake, digestibility, and nitrogen utilization efficiency of beef calves subjected to creep feeding. Thirty-four calves (12 males and 22 females) with initial age and weight of four months and 108±3.9 kg, respectively, were used in a randomized-block experimental design with four treatments and two blocks (males and females). Treatments were control (MM), a mineral mixture ad libitum; corn (C); corn + sorghum (C+S); and corn + sorghum + wheat bran (C+S+WB). Supplements contained approximately 20% crude protein (CP), and were fed in the amount of 0.5% of body weight. Supplemented animals had higher performance (P < 0.05) when compared with those on treatment MM. Supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the intakes of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein (NDFap), non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC), digestible neutral detergent fiber (dNDF), and digestible organic matter (dOM). The digestibility of NFC was higher (P < 0.05) in the supplemented treatments. The C+S and C+S+WB treatments provided increased digestibility (P < 0.05) of OM, CP, and NDFap. The synthesis of nitrogen compounds was higher (P < 0.05) in animals on treatment C as compared with those on the other supplemented treatments. Animals on treatments C+S and C+S+WB had higher (P < 0.05) nitrogen utilization efficiency compared with those on the other treatments. Concentrate supplementation improved the animal performance. The use of other energy sources (sorghum or wheat bran) in association with corn is recommended for suckling calves.