Influence of Zinc Deficiency on Dry Matter Digestibility in Ruminants
Open Access
- 1 August 1966
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Dairy Science Association in Journal of Dairy Science
- Vol. 49 (8), 1012-1013
- https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(66)88003-7
Abstract
When fed at the same level of intake as normal animals, zinc-deficient calves grew at a much slower rate and required more feed per unit of weight gain. This research was conducted to determine whether a zinc deficiency affected digestibility in goats and calves. Dry matter digestibility of a purified diet was determined with 2 zinc-deficient and 2 control goats in four 7-day total collection periods. A comparable experiment was conducted with calves using three 9-day collection periods. Dry matter digestibilities were not affected by the zinc deficiency. Thus the reduced feed efficiency in zinc-deficient animals is caused by a reduced utilization of digested nutrients.This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
- Effects of Zinc Deficiency per se on Feed Efficiency, Serum Alkaline Phosphatase, Zinc in Skin, Behavior, Greying, and other Measurements in the Holstein CalfJournal of Dairy Science, 1965
- Photomicrographs of Skin from Zinc-Deficient CalvesJournal of Dairy Science, 1963
- Experimental Zinc Deficiency and Recovery of CalvesJournal of Nutrition, 1962
- Development of Zinc Deficiency in Holstein Calves Fed a Purified DietJournal of Dairy Science, 1960