Effects of the association between whole cottonseed and calcium salts of fatty acids on nutrient intake, feedlot performance, and carcass characteristics of animals offered a high-concentrate diet.

This experiment evaluated the effects of feeding whole cottonseed (WC) and/or calcium salts of fatty acids (CSFA) on dry matter intake (DMI), performance, and carcass characteristics of animals receiving a high-concentrate diet during the finishing phase. On day 0, 96 Nellore bulls were blocked according to initial shrunk body weight (BW; 302 ± 26.7 kg) into group pens (four animals/pen) and, within blocks, pens were randomly assigned to receive: 1) 15% of WC and 2% of CSFA (dry matter [DM] basis) of palm, cottonseed, and soybean oil (15WC; = 6); 2) 10% of WC and 3% of CSFA (DM basis) of palm, cottonseed, and soybean oil (10WC; = 6); 3) 5% of WC and 4% of CSFA (DM basis) of palm, cottonseed, and soybean oil (5WC; = 6); and 4) 0% of WC and 5% of CSFA (DM basis) of palm, cottonseed, and soybean oil (0WC; = 6).