Effect of Increasing Amount of Amaferm on Animal Performance in Receiving Feedlot Cattle

The receiving period for feedlot cattle is crucial for the latter performance of the animal. This phase is characterized by high stress in the animals due to the change of environment and diet. This has been associated with a decrease in feed intake and performance. Amaferm has been shown to increase the rate and extent of digestion, as well as reducing the time that animals require to resume consumption during diet transition. Therefore, the objective of the present experiment was to determine the effect of 0, 1.5 or 3.0 grams per day of Amaferm in feedlot receiving diets. The experiment was replicated in two years, and in both years one hundred sixty eight Angus crossbreed Steers (240 ±0.66 kg) were blocked by body weight and allocated in 24 pens with seven animals per pen. The 24 pens were equally distributed and assigned to one of the following 3 treatments, control (0A) that receive a diet with 0 g per day of Amaferm, or 1.5 g per day of Amaferm (1.5A) or 3 g per day of Amaferm (3A). The diet containing 60% corn silage, 15% DDGS, 15% whole shelled corn, and 10% protein/vitamin/mineral supplement. Animals were weight at D 1 and d7, DMI was measure daily. Data were analyzed as a complete block design with a mixed model (SAS 9.4). The model include treatment as a fix variable, and pen, year and BW block as random variables. Mean separation for animal performance on d7 was evaluated using linear and quadratic polynomial contrast. Increasing dose of Amaferm inclusion improve linearly (P=0.04) BW, ADG and G:F without changing DMI (P>0.1) on the first week of feeding The improvement in performance may be due to the ability of Amaferm to reduce rumen lactic acid concentration by stimulating the development of Megasphaera elsdenii, decreasing the risk of a decrease in pH. We conclude that inclusion of increasing dose of Amaferm in the receiving diet may help improve performance of calves during the feedlot receiving period.

Item	Treatments			SEM	P value
	0A	1.5A	3A		Linear	Quadratic
BW, Kg	241	242	244	0.7	0.04	0.69
ADG, Kg	0.28	0.33	0.56	0.180	0.04	0.39
DMI, Kg	4.5	4.5	4.5	0.02	0.64	0.98
G:F	0.030	0.033	0.061	0.019	0.04	0.93