Performance of crossbred steers surgically castrated or immunocastrated.

The aim of this study was to assess performance of crossbred steers surgically castrated or immunocastrated. Steers produced along two years from mating Nellore, ½ Nellore x½ Angus and ½ Nellore x ½ Caracu dams with Braford, Charbray and Caracu sires were raised grazing tropical grasses until 20 months of age (n = 80; 40 per treatment) and finished feedlot for 4 months (n = 64; 32 per treatment). The selection of animals that were finished feedlot was performed in order to remove those with more discrepant weights in relation to the mean at the end of backgrounding period, keeping balanced the number of individuals of each evaluated genetic group. Animals were kept in individual pens allowing measuring of daily dry matter intake (DMI) and weight records were taken in the beginning and in the end of the feedlot as well as every 28 days to calculate average daily gain (ADG). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was used as a measure of feed efficiency.