Introduction - The effects of rumen-protected choline (RPC) supplementation to transition cows
have been investigated in several studies. Findings in transition and early lactating dairy cows suggest
that greater choline availability can improve not only milk production, but also lipid and methyl
group metabolism (Baldi and Pinotti, 2006). More recently Pinotti et al. (2008) investigated the effects
of rumen-protected choline supplementation in dairy goats, finding that RPC supplementation
can increase milk yield and milk fat concentration also in this species. By contrast, data on choline
supplementation and its effects in beef cattle are limited; in fact, only a few studies (Bindel et al.,
2005) investigated the effect of RPC supplementation in beef cattle indicating that choline supplementation
can improve growth performance of finishing cattle without negative effects on carcass
characteristics. In light of this we investigated the effect of rumen-protected choline administration
on growth performance in Charolais beef cattle reared in north of Italy.