EFFICACY OF COMPUDOSE® AS A GROWTH PROMOTANT IMPLANT FOR GROWING-FINISHING STEERS

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Abstract
Compudose®, a growth promotant implant for cattle which gives a sustained release of estradiol-17β over a relatively long period of time, was evaluated in a 140-day trial with 80 growing-finishing cattle. An average of 96.9 (± 0.53 SE) μg of estradiol-17β was released daily from these implants. Implanted cattle gained 15.0% faster, ate 7.6% more feed daily and required 6.7% less feed per unit of gain than control steers. Steers which had received Compudose® had 17 kg larger carcasses when slaughtered and a higher dressing percentage. It was concluded that Compudose® is a good growth promotant implant for growing-finishing steers and has the advantage that a single implant can be used in the finishing period. Key words: Compudose, estradiol, growth promotant, implant, cattle