| Summary: | The purpose of this assay is to investigate the appearance of undesirable secondary effects connected to hematic, renal, hepatic, and muscular functions, in cottonseed supplemented calves. This energetic-proteic forage of low cost, possesses high fat and protein concentration, but contains gossypol, a toxic polyphenol able to cause severe organic damage in certain doses. Sixty half-bred British x Zebu weaned calves (7-9 months old and 200 kg liveweight), were randomized in control lot C (n=30), maintained on natural pasture, and supplemented lot S (n = 30), which received cottonseed (2 kg/animal/day) during 5 months (Autumn-Winter). Weighings and biochemical determinations were monthly carried out on C and S animals. In most of the parameters studied, repeated Anova measures indicated significance of both, treatment and time effects (p<0.05), although the interaction between them was not significant. Orthogonal contrasts pointed out that differences between C and S began to be significant on the 90th day of the supplementation start. Diarrheas were registered initially in S, without deaths in any lot.
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