Abstract
One of the most important problems in the production of camels in arid and semi-arid zones is the reduced feed intake and consequent low growth rate during summer. Under these stressful environmental conditions, chromium (Cr) supplementation to the diet of growing camel calves may be beneficial. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeding a diet supplemented with different levels of Cr on growth performance of camel calves reared in a hot arid environment. A total of 15 male camel calves (4–5-month-old, 123 ± 7 kg body weight) were used in this study. The animals were divided into three equal groups (A, B, C), 5 animals each, and housed individually under shelter. Camel calves were fed ad libitum on either total mixed ration (TMR) without Cr supplementation (group A), TMR supplemented with 0.5 mg Cr/kg DM (group B), or TMR supplemented with 1.0 mg Cr/kg DM (group C). Supplementation of 0.5 mg Cr/kg DM to the diet of camel calves did not alter feed intake, however, increased not significantly (P = 0.086) average daily gain (ADG) and N retention. Plasma cortisol level was reduced by 10 %, and feed utilization efficiency was improved by 12 % in 0.5 mg Cr/kg DM-supplemented group compared to the control. Thus, 0.5 mg Cr/kg DM dietary supplementation to camel calves reared under hot summer condition increased weight gain by 17 % and reduced feeding cost of producing a unit of weight by 11 %.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for its funding of this research through the Research Group Project No. RGP-VPP-171.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Statement of animal rights
All procedures described in this experiment were approved by the Faculty Research Ethics Committee at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Abdoun, K.A., Alsofi, M.A., Samara, E.M. et al. Evaluation of the effects of chromium supplementation on growth and nitrogen balance of camel calves under summer conditions. Trop Anim Health Prod 47, 619–621 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-015-0754-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-015-0754-2