A NOTE ON THE ENERGY-REQUIREMENTS FOR GROWING-FATTENING OF ZEBU CATTLE

Data from 43 groups from 9 experiments carried out with growing-fatten ing Zebu cattle were taken. Diets used were forages, concentrates and molasses, as well as their combinations. Daily gain of the animals var ied from 400 to 1226 g/day; in turn, metabolizable energy consumption between 66.4 and 130.9 MJ/day. Averages of were between 257 and 385 wh ich covered absolute range between 150 and 430 kg. True gain was compa red to those expected according to the NRC (1978) table or the Cuban t ables It was that the former overestimated daily gain by 35.7% while t he latter did so by only 0.61%. The mathematical analysis showed that errors due to the table are higher in the American than in the Cuban t able. The Cuban table is recommended to be used in growing-fattening Z ebu cattle.