Nutrition Management Strategies for the Adaptation of Cull Beef Heifers to Feedlot

Providing diets with high roughage in the first days of confinement is the common way of adapting beef cattle to intensive production. However, it is possible to offer the final finishing diet from the first day of adaptation. Our objective was to compare a traditional adaptation protocol, in which animals received a diet with a higher proportion of roughage, with an experimental protocol, in which animals received the final finishing diet in restricted amounts, on the productive performance of beef heifers in the first 42 days of confinement, divided into two periods (0–14 days, 15–42 days). A total of 552 heifers were evaluated and subjected to 2 adaptation strategies: (1) traditional protocol—ad libitum feed with a quantified greater proportion of roughage in the first 14 days, and (2) experimental protocol—gradual increase in the amount of final finishing feed. The nutrient intake and productive performance were evaluated. The intake was greater in the traditional protocol in all periods, 8.2 vs. 7.9 kg/day, 9.6 vs. 9.2 kg/day, and 9.2 vs. 8.8 kg/day, to 0–14, 15−42, and 0–42 days, respectively. However, performance was better in the experimental protocol in the initial period (0–14 days), 0.7 vs. 0.3 kg/day. After adaptation (15–42 days), the traditional protocol performed better, 1.5 vs. 1.3 kg/day. The nutritional protocol of gradual adaptation to total feed is recommended for heifers adapting to confinement.