Ruminant Nutrition & Animal Science - Dr. Fred Owens

Dhanraj Thank you for your inquiry. We are assuming that your question was “What are the mineral requirements for increased weight and optimal health of animals?" The response to this above is, it depends! The chemicals required for weight gain and optimal health in animals are the nutrients. The organic chemicals (organic nutrients) are water, carbohydrates, fats (dietary essential fatty acids), protein (dietary essential amino acids), and vitamins. The inorganic chemicals (inorganic nutrients) are minerals. Of the inorganic nutrients (minerals), they are required in specific amounts depending upon many factors to include; but, not limited to, stage of growth (young vs old), physiological stage of production (ie, lactation vs gestation, egg production vs meat production, etc), species (bovine, ovine, porcine, equine, canine, etc.), breed within species (Angus, Simmental, Jersey, Brahman, etc within the bovine species), activity level and many more criteria. The specific dietary minerals that are of major concern when feeding animals are Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Chlorine, Sulfur, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Iodine, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Chromium, Fluorine and Selenium. The minerals are broken down into two major categories; macrominerals and microminerals. Macro minerals are those that are required in the animal diets expressed in a percentage amount. These are Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium and Sulfur. Micro minerals are those that are required in the animal diets expressed as a PPM amount. These are Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Iodine, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Chromium, Fluorine, and Selenium. The National Research Council Committee on Minerals and Toxic Substances in Diets and Water for Animals presents specific information on each of these minerals. The National Research Council publishes books on the nutrient requirements for each animal species that identifies the specific recommended requirements for animals based upon the above criteria to include level and stage of production for optimal growth and health. When addressing the mineral requirements for animals and the amounts needed in the diet, particular attention should be given to specific mineral-mineral interactions that occur in the digestive tract. For example, feeding excess of one mineral can negatively affect the utilization of another mineral. For example, increasing dietary copper to overcome a real or perceived copper deficiency can reduce the bioavailability of zinc in the digestive tract. Additionally, elevated levels of molybdenum and sulfur in the diet from dietary ingredients will form thiomolybdates in the lumen of the digestive tract to bind copper rendering it biologically unavailable. Also, various organic acids can bind to inorganic nutrients forming soaps and/or various organic salts can render certain dietary minerals unavailable for optimal growth and immune-responsiveness. Encapsulating certain minerals under these feeding scenarios in systems that can release the mineral for absorption in the small intestine can prevent these negative interactions in the digestive tract; thereby, improving growth efficiency and health.