Table 1.

Chemical composition of the Marandu grass pasture (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu) and supplement fed to Nellore bulls during the finishing phase

	Days during the experimental period
Marandu grass pasture	28	56	84	112
Dry matter (DM), %	36.7	43.5	47.6	66.4
Nutritional composition (% DM)
Crude Protein	6.8	7.1	7.2	4.2
Neutral Detergent Fiber	65.0	64.2	63.1	70.2
Acid Detergent Fiber	44.1	43.8	41.5	38.4
Ash	6.9	7.1	6.5	6.4
Supplement − 0.3% body weight 1
DM, %	88.1
Nutritional composition (% DM)
Crude Protein	14.4
Neutral Detergent Fiber	9.9
Total digestible nutrients	83.9
Ash	7.7

¹Supplement composed, on dry matter basis, by 81.2% finely-ground corn, 13.4% cottonseed meal, and 5.4% mineral premix (18.5% Ca, 8% P, 1.2% Mg, 12% Na, 2% S, 60 mg/kg Co, 1350 mg/kg Cu, 90 mg/kg I, 1200 mg/kg Mn, 20 mg/kg Se, and 3450 mg/kg Zn). The supplement provided to the animals maintained a consistent nutritional composition and ingredient inclusion throughout the study