Abstract Feed intake consistency is a key indicator of efficiency in beef cattle. Understanding how intake variation relates to growth and carcass traits can help identify animals with more resilient production performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of dry matter intake consistency on beef cattle growth performance and carcass characteristics. Over 55 days, crossbred Angus steers (n = 157) were fed a feedlot diet consisting of corn silage, distillers grains, high moisture corn, and ground corn. Individual dry matter intake (DMI) was recorded using the Vytelle feed intake system. The expected DMI was calculated based on the average over the experiment. Dry matter intake consistency was estimated using six metrics, including variance of residuals (VR), maximum drop (MD), cumulative deficit (CD), days below baseline (DBB), longest deficit streak (LDS), coefficient of variation (CV), and minimum DMI residual Z-score (MZS). The VR was defined by the difference between the actual DMI and the predicted DMI. The MD was defined by the highest amount below the predicted baseline on a particular day. CD was defined as the sum of all negative fluctuations around the baseline of predicted feed intake. The DBB was defined as the percentage of days steers spent below the predicted feed baseline. The LDS was defined by the sum of the longest number of consecutive days spent below the predicted intake baseline. The Z-score is calculated by taking the difference between the minimum and the mean DMI residuals over the standard deviation and is used to explain the variation in data relative to the minimum residual DMI. The feeding consistency traits were correlated with backfat (BF), yield grade (YG), hot carcass weight (HCW), marbling, rib eye area (REA), and kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (KPH). The correlation was performed using Pearson's correlation method, and a significant correlation was achieved with P-values ≤ 0.05. Results show that VR has a positive correlation with BF, YG, and HCW. VR has a negative correlation with KPH and REA. CD has a positive correlation with KPH and REA. CD has a negative correlation between BF, YG, and HCW. LDS has a negative correlation with marbling and REA (r = -0.19). CV has a negative correlation with REA (r = -0.26). In conclusion, DMI consistency may moderately affect growth performance and carcass characteristics in beef cattle.
Davis et al. (Wed,) studied this question.