Effects of Nutrition and Management on Feed Efficiency, Carcass Value, and Profitability in Feedlot Cattle

121 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007.Four-hundred seven head of steers from known sires (n=28) were used to evaluate the influence of sire, diet, and body composition on feed efficiency and profitability. Diet digestibility was higher for corn based finishing diets and lower for diets containing wet corn gluten feed (WCGF). Average daily gain was the lowest for the diet containing WCGF. Dry matter intake was lower and G:F was higher for diets composed primarily of dry rolled corn (DRC). Cost of gain (COG) was the lowest for diets containing WCGF. Residual feed intake (RFI) was positively correlated to feed cost, COG, DMI, intake over maintenance requirements and negative correlated to G:F. Ranking of animals using RFI and G:F did not change over time on feed. The diet containing WCGF was the least efficient diet on a G:F basis whereas it was the most efficient on an RFI basis. Intake over maintenance, total feed costs, and COG increased linearly as RFI increased.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD