The present work was conducted at COTRIJUÍ Experimental Farm-RS from May to December 1993, to evaluate the effect of different phisical treatments of oat grain on steers body weight gain and digestibility. Two experiments were carried out comparing oat grain fed either dry and whole (GAIS), milled (GAMO), rolled (GAMA) or whole and soaked in water (GAIU). In experiment I, 24 Hereford steers 13 months old and with a mean body weight of 260 kg were used on a completelly ramdomized block design to evaluate the effect of grain treatments on body weight gain. The experimental lasted for 84 days. The average daily gain obtained were 1.047, 1.055, 1.107 and 1.067kg for treatments GAIS, GAMO, GAMA and GAIU, respectively. They were no significant differences between treatments. In experiment II, 8 friesian steers 14 months old and with a mean body weight of 243kg were used during two periods, on a romdomized design, to study the effect of grain treatment on diet digestibility. Experimental diets were similar to those fed in experiment I but including ground oats hay instead of bermuda hay. They were no significant differences neither for digestibility coeficients for dry matter, organic matter, crude fïbre, crude protein, ether extract and nitrogen free extrat, nor for TDN. The values for organic matter digestibility obtained were 59.27; 57.10; 61.46 and 59.76% for treatments GAIS, GAMO, GAMA and GAIU, respectively, and those for TDN were: 64.02; 66.56; 65.78 and 62.12%. It was concluded that oat grain could be fed whole to steers.
beef cattle; digestibility; grain treatment; oat grain; weight gain
