Glycerin associated with urea in finishing beef cattle: performance and meat characteristics

The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of glycerol with urea, on the consumption and nutritional performance of Nelore cattle. The work was conducted within the confines of the digestibility sector, belonging to the Faculdade de Ciencias Agrarias e Veterin\aria - FCAV/Unesp campus Jaboticabal. Heifers, Nellore, with approximately 20 months of age with an average body weight of 278kg were allotted to four treatments using a completely randomized design. Four diets with similar metabolizable energy and crude protein were formulated using the forage: concentrate ratio of 30: 70. The roughage used was corn silage. The concentrates used were composed of corn, soybean hulls, sunflower meal, and the use or not of glycerin and urea in accordance with the treatment. The introduction of glycerin and urea in the diet was fixed respectively at 10 and 1% inclusion in the diet dry matter, based on recommendations found in the literature for cattle confinados. The treatments were: C = control without glycerin and urea, U = 1 % urea in dry matter; G10 = 10% glycerin dry matter; GU10 = 10% glycerin and 1 % urea in dry matter. The diets were not different (P > 0.05) in regards to performance of animals or meat characteristics, so the use of glycerin or glycerine association with urea did not alter the growth traits of Nelore heifers finished in confinement. Thus the association of glycerol with urea may be a viable strategy in the production of cattle feedlot systems.