Hay intake in dual purpose cows supplemented with multinutritional blocks, during the transition dry-wet season

In hilly areas of the Central Plains the production systems for dual purpose meat and milk (cheese), are characterized by low production yields (Montilla and Colina, 1998), determined by the strong seasonality (Picolli, 1991), availability of dry matter and low nutritive value in this area (Fuentes et al., 2002). These constraints expose a need to expand knowledge regarding the use of strategic supplementation, using non traditional local food resources in dual-purpose cattle grazing systems with low quality basal diet and their interaction with climatic factors such. One strategy of supplementation in cattle is the use of multinutritional blocks (MB), mainly of proteins and minerals, as a suitable alternative to offset food shortages. The present research work was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of supplementation with multinutritional blocks (MB) on hay intake in dual purpose cows.