Effects of Dietary Copper on Nutrient Digestibility, Tissular Copper Deposition and Fur Quality of Growing-Furring Mink (Mustela vison)

• Published in: Biological trace element research 2014-05, Vol.158 (2), p.166-175
• Main Authors: Wu, Xuezhuang, Liu, Zhi, Zhang, Tietao, Yang, Ying, Yang, Fuhe, Gao, Xiuhua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - drug effects; Animals; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Body weight; Copper; Copper - administration & dosage; Copper - metabolism; Copper - pharmacology; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Dietary supplements; Digestion - drug effects; Female; Furs; Hair; Hair - drug effects; Hair - metabolism; Life Sciences; Mink - growth & development; Mink - metabolism; Mustela vison; Nutrients; Nutrition; Oncology
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-014-9933-7

The present study investigated the effects of dietary copper (Cu) on growth performance and fur quality in growing-furring minks. One hundred and five standard dark female minks were randomly assigned to seven groups with the following dietary treatments: basal diet with no supplemental Cu (control) and basal diet supplemented with either 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 or 192 mg/kg Cu from copper sulphate, respectively. Our data showed that final body weight ( P  = 0.033), daily gain ( P  = 0.029) and fat digestibility ( P  = 0.0006) responded to increasing levels of Cu. The activity of glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) in serum increased (linear and quadratic, P