Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate different concentration levels on the feed intake and nutrient digestibility of different beef cattle breeds. Twenty beef cattle (13 months of age) were allocated in a group of Latin square design 4× (5×5). The first factor was cattle breeds (Brahman, Black Angus, Charolais, and Red Angus). Furthermore, the concentrate feed levels were 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kg/animal/day, corresponding to C0, C0.5, C1.0, C1.5, and C2.0 as treatments. The basal diet was fresh Elephant grass (5 kg/d) and ad libitum rice straw. Beef cattle were adapted to ration for 7 days followed by 7 days of sample collection and dissecting samples. The results showed that dry matter intake (kg/100kg live weight) was significantly different among cattle breeds, the highest value was for Charolais (2.37 kg) and the lowest value was for Brahman cattle (2.15 kg). The dry matter digestibility of Brahman (62.0%) was higher than Black Angus (53.1%), Charolais (53.3.7%), and Red Angus (54.7%). However, the daily weight gain of Brahman was lower than Black Angus, Charolais, and Red Angus cattle (351, 403, 464, and 492 g/animal/day, respectively). Both digestibility (%) and digestible value (kg) increased and were affected by treatments. In detail, the CP digestibility was significantly higher for the C2.0 (73.4%) compared to C1.5, C1.0, C0.5, and C0 (68.6, 65.7, 61.2, and 53.4%, respectively), while C1.0 was similar to C0.5 and C1.5 treatments. Thus, the daily weight gain (g/animal/day) were 214, 337, 451, 540, and 595 g (P<0.05) for C0, C0.5, C1.0, C1.5, and C2.0 treatments, respectively. The conclusion was that Brahman cattle had higher digestibility than Black Angus, Charolais, and Red Angus. In addition, the concentrate supplementation level from 1.0 to 1.5 kg per day in diets could be properly recommended for farmers’ practice in terms of feed utilization.