The objective of this work was to study the effect of the substitution of cottonseed meal by canola meal on weight gain, feed intake, feed:gain ratio and dressing percentage of the feedlot Nellore heifers. Thirty Nellore heifers averaging initial of 225 kg LW and 20 months of age were randomly allotted to two treatments (cottonseed meal - COM or canola meal - CAM as protein sources) with 15 animals for each treatment. The experiment was carried out in three periods of 28 days each, plus 14 days of adaptation. The daily average weight gain in CAM treatment (1.05 kg) was higher than in the COM treatment (.87 kg). In the same way, feed:gain ratio of DM in CAM treatment (6.72) was better than COM treatment (8.13). However, the dressing percentage was similar for both treatments (51.6 and 51.7, for CAM and COM, respectively). The use of canola meal, in relation to cottonseed meal, as alternative protein source in the growing and finishing Nellore heifers, was viable, once the weight gain and feed:gain ratio were better.
canola; feedlot; cottonseed meal; weight gain; heifer
