The effect of three multiple mixtures supplementation on intake, digestibility and performance of Nelore steers grazing pasture of Brachiaria decumbens CV Marandu was studied. The multiple mixtures (treatments - T) were defined as: T1 - 800g of supplement with urea as crude protein source, T2 - 800g of mixture in which urea was replaced by starea, T3 - 1500g of starea, and T4 - mineral salt fed ad libitum as a control group. Six animals per treatment were given chromic oxide as a marker to measure intake and 10 animals per treatment were used to evaluate their performance. Two esophageal fistulated steers were used to collect samples of extruse. The animals fed on supplement diets showed higher weight gains (335, 419, 467g/animal) than those from the control group (271g/animal). Dry matter digestibility were 56.7, 49.8, 48.9 and 45.5%, respectively, for T1, T2, T3 and T4. A positive correlation between dry matter digestibility and in vitro dry matter digestibility (P<0.05) was observed. Supplementation with multiple mixtures increased dry matter intake (P<0.05).
cattle; multiple mixture; supplementation; starea
