Intake pattern and feed sorting of beef cattle fed different sources of corn in a feedlot

The objective of this experiment was to determine the feed intake pattern and feed sorting of 30 Nelore males finished in a feedlot fed diets based on three different sources of corn: whole crop silage (WCS), high moisture corn (HMC) or corn grain (CG). Feed intake pattern and feed sorting were determined on days 13, 27, 41, 55, 69, and 83 days after the beginning of the experiment in three times relative to feed delivery (4, 10, and 24 hours). Diets were size-separated using the three-screen (19, 8, and 4 mm) and a bottom pan to yield long (>19 mm), medium (<19, >8 mm), short (<8, >4 mm) and fine (<4 mm) particles. Feed sorting was calculated by the actual dry matter (DM) intake of each particle size expressed as a % of the theoretical DM intake of the corresponding particle size. There was no response (p>0.05) of corn source on feed intake pattern. Regardless of the source of corn, animals expressed a preferential consumption or sorting for the long (104.01% for WCS, 126.99% for HMC, and 132.58% for CG) and medium (116.66% for WCS, 109.95% for HMC, and 135.14% for CG) particles of the diets, which may be a beneficial aspect in terms of rumen motility as well as maintaining rumen pH in an adequate range.