Seasonal performance of different breeds of feedlot beef cattle grown under the Mediterranean conditions

Y. Bozkurt

Abstract: In this study, data from Holstein (11), Brown Swiss (27), Simmental (8) cattle as European type (ET) and Boz (12) and Gak (48) as Indigenous type (IT) grown under feedlot conditions were used to evaluate and compare performance differences in the Mediterranean type of climate, covering summer, autumn and winter seasons. Initial average weights of cattle were 202, 194, 210, 203 and 220 kg for Holstein, Brown Swiss, Simmental, Boz and Gak repsectively. There were statistically significant (P< 0.05) differences in daily live weight gains (DLWG) of both type of cattle. ET cattle were performed better than IT cattle for all seasons. There were no statistically (P< 0.05) significant differences in performance between Holsteins, Brown Swiss and Simmental cattle and between Boz and Gak cattle themselves. However, Simmentals tended to perform better than the rest for all seasons, following Holsteins, Brown Swiss, Boz and Gak respectively. There was no significant (P> 0.05) interaction between seasons and breed types. Overall DLWGs of animals in winter (0.80 kg/day) was statistically higher (P< 0.05) than those of both summer and autumn (0.68 and 072 kg/day respectively) which was not statistically significant. The results showed that under the Mediterranean conditions the ET cattle were better suited to the feedlot beef systems than IT cattle. The higher overall performance of cattle in winter indicated that animals might suffer from heat stress during summer, causing a decrease in performance in the Mediterranean conditions.

Keywords: beef cattle; feedlot; live weight gain; performance; seasons

Date published: 2019-06-28