Mineral status of some vital organs of lambs as influenced by their dietary levels Sharma L.C., Yadav P.S.*, Mandal A.B.1, Sunaria K.R. Department of Animal Nutrition, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India *Reprint request: Dr. P.S. Yadav, Tel.+91-1662-45725, Fax: 91-1662-34952
1Present address: Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122, India Abstract An experiment was conducted to assess the mineral status of vital organs of sheep fed different levels of minerals. Eighteen lambs, divided into three groups of six each, were fed gram straw and conventional concentrate mixture to meet their energy and protein requirements. One group (T1) received supplementation of mineral salts as per NRC requirement, while two other groups received 125% (T2) and 150% (T3) of minerals viz. calcium, phosphorus, sulphur, zinc and manganese as specified by NRC. However, the effective intakes of supplemented minerals were 100, 110 and 125% respectively. After feeding trial of 120 days, these lambs were slaughtered; vital organs (heart, liver, kidney and spleen) were collected and analyzed for Ca, P, S, Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe contents. An increase (P<0.05) in Zn and Mn contents and decreased in Cu content was observed in heart, muscle and liver with the graded supplementation levels. In kidney, the concentration of Cu, Mn and S increased due to feeding higher levels of dietary minerals. Mn and P contents were higher (P<0.05) in spleen of lambs fed higher levels of minerals. The concentration of Ca was less (P<0.05) in heart muscle, while it was more (P<0.05) in liver, kidney and spleen of sheep received higher minerals. The results indicated that vital organs especially liver and kidney responded markedly to the dietary concentration of minerals and hence could be used as indices to study mineral status of grazing lambs. Top Key words Minerals, Supplementation, Heart, Liver, Spleen, Kidney. Top |