Y. BOZKURT and C. DOGAN
Suleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Isparta, Turkey
Bozkurt, Y. and C. Dogan, 2016. Performance comparisons of Holstein and Brown Swiss cattle grown in a 12-month feedlot beef system. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 22 (Suppl. 1): 143–145
In this study, the performances of Holstein and Brown Swiss male cattle kept in a12-month intensive beef system under the Mediterranean climatic conditions were compared in order to make recommendations for the beef producers in the region. The experiment was conducted in Isparta province located in the wet Mediterranean part of Turkey. For this purpose, 20 Holstein and 20 Brown Swiss male cattle with an average age of 6 months were assigned to two feedlot paddocks evenly and fed on the similar ration for 12 months in 2012. The average initial weights of Holstein and Brown Swiss breed animals were 158 and 132 kg respectively. General Linear Model (GLM) procedure was used for the statistical analysis of the data and initial weight and age were taken as covariates to eliminate the weight differences at the start of the experiment. It was found that at the end of the experiment, the differences in final weights were not statistically significant (P>0.05) and Holstein and Brown Swiss animals
reached average final weights of 502 and 493 kg, respectively. Furthermore, there were no significant (P>0.05) differences in mean total gains (344 v. 361 kg) and average daily live weight gains (0.985 vs. 1.028 kg). The results indicated that under the Mediterranean climate conditions both breed animals performed similarly and there was no superiority of any breed over the other although Brown Swiss cattle tended to show better performances. Therefore, both breeds can be recommended to be kept in a 12-month feedlot beef system for the beef producers in the region.