The objective of the experiment was to study the carcass and meat quantitative characteristics of 157 Charolais steers, slaughtered at two years of age, classified in four groups according to the average daily weight gain (ADG) pre and post seven months: "high-high" = steers with ADG ³ .5 kg from birth to slaughter, "low-low" = steers with ADG < .5 kg from birth to slaughter, "high-low" = steers with ADG ³.5 kg before seven months, and ADG < .5 kg from seven months to slaughter, and "low-high" = animals with ADG < .5 kg before seven months and ADG ³ .5 kg from seven months to slaughter. From birth to seven months the calves were kept with their dams in native pasture. During the first and the second winter, the animals were managed in Avena strigosa + Lolium multiflorum pasture.At seven months, the animals that had lower weight gain (low-low and low-high) showed, in average, 111.2 kg versus 180.1 kg observed for the high-low and high-high animals. High-high and high-low animals showed higher live weight until 18 months and carcass weight, but no difference was observed for slaughter weight among the high-low (445.2 kg), low-high (428.4 kg) and low-low steers (412.6 kg). The high-high animals showed higher fat thickness (2.55 mm) than the animals with lower post seven months weight gain (low-low = 1.64 mm and high-low = 1.33 mm). The high-low and low-high groups showed higher carcass fat percentage (16.9 and 17.3%) than the low-low animals (14.6%). High-high steers showed higher marbling than the high-low and the low-low group and better meat color (4.27 points) than the high-low group (3.22 points). The results showed that for meat characteristics, the low weight gain before seven months might be compensated with higher gains during the subsequent period and vice-versa, being in the first case the higher "damage" on the animals carcass weight, and in the second case, on the carcass finishing and meat marbling.
Bos taurus; calves; compensatory gain; fatness
