Table 2.

Effect of supplemental vitamin E (VE) on receiving period performance of beef steers

	Supplemental VE treatment1					Contrast P-value
	CON n = 9 pens	LOW n = 8 pens	MED n = 8 pens	HIGH n = 9 pens	SEM2	Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
VE intake3, IU/d	0	151	484	995	–	–	–	–
Initial BW4, kg	248	250	245	247	8.2	0.88	0.84	0.75
Final BW5, kg	300	301	301	300	4.8	0.96	0.81	0.99
Dry matter intake, kg/d
Day 0 to 14	5.0	5.2	4.9	5.1	0.08	0.57	0.28	0.01
Day 14 to 27	7.2	7.0	7.1	7.1	0.09	0.98	0.48	0.10
Day 0 to 27	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.1	0.08	0.79	0.37	0.71
Average daily gain, kg/d
Day 0 to 14	1.92	1.83	1.81	1.92	0.055	0.70	0.08	0.65
Day 14 to 27	1.95	2.01	2.16	2.02	0.061	0.39	0.02	0.53
Day 0 to 27	1.94	1.92	1.98	1.97	0.042	0.39	0.67	0.46
Gain:feed
Day 0 to 14	0.389	0.356	0.369	0.377	0.013	0.99	0.24	0.13
Day 14 to 27	0.272	0.288	0.304	0.283	0.008	0.39	0.01	0.94
Day 0 to 27	0.319	0.316	0.330	0.322	0.007	0.54	0.38	0.38
Treated6, %	4.3	9.4	6.7	6.7	15.6	0.84	0.68	0.44

¹VE = vitamin E (ROVIMIX E-50 Adsorbate, DSM Nutritional Products, Heerlen, The Netherlands); CON = control (no supplemental VE); LOW = VE at 25 IU/kg DM; MED = VE at 500 IU per steer daily; HIGH = VE at 1,000 IU per steer daily.

²Highest SEM of any treatment reported.

³Back-calculated supplemental VE intake per steer daily.

⁴Initial body weight (BW) = average of BW collected on day −1 and 0.

⁵Final BW = average of BW collected on day 26 and 27.

⁶Percentage of steers treated for respiratory illness.