Effect of Copper Supplementation on Growth Performance and Nutrient Utilization in Lambs

As animal production intensifies, the requirement for nutrients involved in combating stress might also increase more than the recommendation. An experiment was conducted on 18 male Mecheri lambs 4 months old with average body weight (15.45 ± 0.06 kg) to determine the copper (Cu) supplementation in diet for optimum growth performance and nutrient utilization by allotting them randomly to three groups in completely randomized design. The dietary treatments were viz., Basal diet (no supplemental Cu), basal diet supplemented with 7 ppm Cu and 14 ppm Cu from CuSO4. The lambs were fed the respective diet at 3.5 per cent of body weight to meet the ICAR requirements except Cu throughout the feeding trial of 90 days. The basal diet (DM basis) contained 7.40 ppm Cu. Cu supplementation increased (P<0.05) the average daily gain and efficiency of dry matter utilization in lambs. Lambs supplemented with 14 ppm Cu had higher (P<0.05) daily weight gains than 7 ppm supplementation. The dry matter (DM), crude fibre (CF), ether extract (EE) and cellulose digestibility were affected by Cu supplementation and the digestibility of DM and CF was higher in lambs fed 14 ppm supplementation. No effect of Cu was observed on crude protein, nitrogen free extract, acid detergent fibre digestibility and retention of nitrogen and energy. Apparent retention of Cu was increased significantly (P<0.05) in lambs fed 14 ppm Cu. This study indicated that ADG, efficiency of DM utilization and Cu retention were increased with Cu supplementation.