Report
Feeding beef cattle III : vitamin A effects on beef quality and neonatal supplementation
Washington State University Extension fact sheet, 381E, Washington State University Extension
07/2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005078
Abstract
Vitamin A supplementation is an essential part of beef cattle diets. Cattle performance, health, and beef quality are all impacted by vitamin A content in the diet. Vitamin A deficiency can cause several health issues in cattle that reduce performance and welfare. Supplementation to meet requirements prevents deficiency, while supplementation exceeding requirements can impact beef quality in a variety of ways. Most research on vitamin A supplementation has focused on the backgrounding and finishing periods, where supplementing over minimum requirements can negatively impact intramuscular fat (IMF) or marbling. New studies focusing on neonatal vitamin A supplementation have shown improved IMF in supplemented calves at harvest. Supplementing calves with 150,000 IU injectable vitamin A source (retinol palmitate) increased calf performance, IMF development, marbling scores, and muscle fiber size. Initial results show increased performance without significantly increased inputs in neonatally injected vitamin A calves, which could benefit producers economically.
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Details
- Title
- Feeding beef cattle III : vitamin A effects on beef quality and neonatal supplementation
- Creators
- Ashley NorbergMark Loge NelsonDonald A. Llewellyn
- Academic Unit
- Publications, WSU Extension
- Series
- Washington State University Extension fact sheet; 381E
- Publisher
- Washington State University Extension; Pullman, Washington
- Format
- pdf
- Identifiers
- 99901026341201842
- Copyright
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Report