Energetic-protein supplementation in the last 60 days of gestation improves performance of beef cows grazing tropical pastures

Table 4 Cow BW and BCS, calf BW, cow progesterone concentrations and reproductive performance

Item^a	Treatment^b				SEM	P-value^c
Item^a	30-d	60-d	90-d	Control	SEM	S	L	Q
Supplement fed, kg/d	3.00	1.50	1.00	–
Cow BW, kg, cow BCS and calf BW, kg
Initial BW	494	517	503	503	18.0	0.95	0.74	0.43
Initial BCS	4.66	4.65	4.54	4.87	0.20	0.28	0.65	0.85
Calving BW	508	515	531	522	6.79	0.56	0.02	0.55
Calving BCS	4.74	4.83	4.83	4.82	0.15	0.95	0.70	0.82
Calf birth BW	33.8	31.7	35.8	36.2	1.93	0.28	0.43	0.10
Cow BW 31 d after calving	468	490	482	465	7.73	0.09	0.21	0.15
BW change from parturition to day 31 post-calving	−46.7	−24.9	−53.5	−62.1	8.24	0.04	0.58	0.03
Breeding season BCS	5.00	5.11	4.83	5.03	0.21	0.84	0.57	0.43
Progesterone concentration, ng/dL
21 d after calving	0.27*	0.21	0.12	0.14	0.06	0.34	0.05	0.82
31 d after calving	1.24	0.70	0.69	0.14	0.37	0.08	0.29	0.55
Cow reproductive performance, %
Calving to conception, d	57.2	63.1	84.2*	64.1	5.85	0.53	0.01	0.30

^aBW– body weight; BCS – body condition score; FTAI – fixed time artificial insemination
^bTreatments: 30-d – cows received 3.0 kg of concentrate supplement beginning 30 d prior to calving; 60-d – cows received 1.5 kg of concentrate supplement beginning 60 d prior to calving; 90-d – cows received 1.0 kg of concentrate supplement beginning 90 d prior to calving; and control – no concentrate supplement was fed
^cS – effect of supplementation, supplemented treatments compared to the control; L and Q – effects of linear and quadratic order of supplement delivery strategy (30, 60 or 90 d). * Means statistically different from the control by Dunnett’s test

ISSN: 2049-1891