Productive performance and carcass characteristics of castrated and non-castrated Beefalo-Nellore beef cattle finished in a feedlot or kept on pasture

Beefalo is a fertile hybrid descendant of domestic cattle (Bos taurus) and American buffalo (Bison bison). Crossbred (3/4 Beefalo 1/4 Nellore) beef cattle raised and finished in a feedlot or on pasture were evaluated for the effect of two ages (8 and 13 months) at castration on nutrient intake, performance, and carcass characteristics. In the feedlot, they received a total diet with a roughage:concentrate ratio of 55:45, and those kept on Brachiaria decumbens pastures were supplemented at 0.8% of body weight (BW) with the same concentrate based on corn and soybean meal (17.8% CP and 73% TDN). Thirty-six crossbred (3/4 Beefalo 1/4 Nellore) beef cattle with 209.2 +/- 14.6 kg BW were used, which at weaning, at 8 months of age, were randomly divided into two groups, one of them destined to the feedlot system and the other group to the supplementation system on pasture. In each system (feedlot and pasture) the following treatments were distributed: castration at 8 months (at weaning, C8), castration at 13 months (C13), and non-castrated (NC), with six animals per treatment by system. All animals were slaughtered at 18 months of age. There was no significant interaction between the systems and castration ages for all variables studied. The averages of slaughter weight of feedlot animals were 475.6; 494.3 and 510.7 kg; and finished in pasture were 424.3; 428.0 and 418.7 kg for C8, C13, and NC treatments, respectively. The average subcutaneous fat thickness of the feedlot steers were 4.5, 3.5, and 1.3 mm, and for pasture-finished steers were 2.4, 1.6, and 1.8 mm for C8, C13, and NC treatments, respectively. Non-castrated animals have greater performance and carcass characteristics than castrated animals independent of the finished system. Animals non-castrated finished on Brachiaria grass pastures and slaughtered at 18 months of age require more intensive feeding management or even greater age at slaughter to obtain an ideal carcass finishing despite castration.