Suplementación de vacas doble propósito en pastoreo empleando diferentes niveles de inclusión de aceite esencial

Objective. evaluate the productive and economic performance of grazing cows with different doses of cinnamon essential oil (Cinnamomum verum). Materials and methods. Were used 24 crossbred cows, between two and three births with average weights of 427.9 ± 43 kg, which were randomly assigned to four treatments with six repetitions each. Three sources of essential oil (EO) inclusion in the supplement were evaluated: 1) Supplement, 2) supplement + 0.5 g EO/animal/day, 3) Supplement + 1 g EO/animal/day and 4) supplement + 1.5 g EO/animal/day. Results. The variable of body condition (BC) and daily weight gain (DWG) did not reflect an effect (p>0.05) from the addition of EO. No effects on milk composition were evident (p>0.05), but there was an increasing linear behavior (p<0.05) on average daily and total milk production. The cost-benefit ratio improved when using levels of addition of 0.5 and 1 g of EO/animal/day in the supplement, and decreased when the amount of essential oil was increased above 1 g animal/day. Conclusions. The incorporation of EO resulted in a positive increase in daily and total production, without impacting weight gain, body condition or milk composition, indicating that it is a viable alternative by reducing the percentage of the supplement cost and increasing net income at the level of 0.5 and 1 g EO/animal/day.