An experiment was conducted using forty-one Bonsmara steers (age ± 7 months) to
determine the effect of zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) on the growth performance and
carcass characteristics. The trial was structured using a completely randomized design
with two treatments, control and ZH group. The steers were fed ZH for 28 consecutive
days at the end of the finishing period and ZH was withdrawn from the diet 2 days prior to
slaughter of the animals. The steers were placed in individual pens and weighed
fortnightly throughout the 4 months trial. Zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) was included in the
diet at a rate of 8.3 mg/kg of DM. Feeding of ZH increased (P< 0.05) body weight (BW)
gain and ADG (1.102 vs. 1.444) and tended to increase (P = 0.067) feed efficiency (F:G)
during the last month of the finishing period. There were no significant differences (P>
0.05) in daily dry matter intakes (DMI). For the control group, high treatment weight gains
were significantly associated with high initial weight (r = 0.424, P = 0.049) and also high
pre-treatment body weight (r = 0.678, P= 0.001). Treatment weight gain increased as the
initial and pre-treatment weight gain increased in the control group. For the steers that
were fed ZH, there was no significant correlation between the treatment body weight gain
with initial weight (r = 0.097, P = 0.694) and also pre- treatment live weight (r = 0.393, P =
0.096). Supplementation of ZH significantly increased (P < 0.0001) the dressing
percentage (56.4% vs. 58.4%) and had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the carcass
weight. The outcome of the study suggest that supplementation of ZH in the diet during
the last month of the finishing period enhances growth performance and shows the
repartitioning capacity of the feed additive as a beta- agonist. / Agriculture and Animal Health / M. Sc. (Agriculture (Animal Science)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/15368 |
| Date | 12 January 2015 |
| Creators | Mantiziba, Chipo Winnie |
| Contributors | Acheampong-Boateng, Owoahene, Leeuw, K. J. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Rights | University of South Africa |
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