Effects of Dietary Energy Levels on Growth Performance, Serum Metabolites, and Meat Quality of Jersey Cattle–Yaks

Abstract

Energy feed can provide animals with balanced nutrition, thereby enhancing their growth performance. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary energy levels on the growth performance, serum metabolites, and meat quality of Jersey cattle–yaks. A total of 24 male Jersey cattle–yaks were randomly divided into three groups. Each group was fed diets with metabolizable energy levels of 8.21 MJ/kg (LE), 9.50 MJ/kg (ME), and 10.65 MJ/kg (HE), respectively. The HE and ME groups showed significantly higher final body weight, average daily gain (ADG), and feed efficiency compared to the LE group (p p p p p p < 0.05) when compared to the LE group. We concluded that a higher dietary energy level enhanced the growth performance and meat quality traits of male Jersey cattle–yaks.

Keywords

• Jersey cattle–yak
• metabolizable energy
• growth performance
• serum parameters
• intramuscular fatty acid
• meat quality