Abstract

Fifty New Zealand Romney lambs (25 wethers and 25 ewes) grazing a ryegrass/white clover pasture from weaning, were used to study the distribution of zinc, copper, manganese and iron among the various organs and tissues and the amounts associated with a kilogram gain in fleece-free empty body weight. Each kilogram gain in fleece-free empty body weight was associated with 24 mg Zn, 0.77 mg Cu, 0.47 mg Mn and 55 mg Fe, while a kilogram of clean wool contained 220 mg Zn, 7 mg Cu, 3.5 mg Mn and 23 mg Fe. Thus for a young sheep gaining 100g of fleece-free empty body weight/d maintaining a mean wool growth of 10 g/d the daily demands for Zn, Cu and Mn for growth (2.4 mg Zn; 0.08 mg Cu; 0.05 mg Mn) and wool production (2.2 mg Zn; 0.07 mg Cu; 0.035 mg Mn) were found to be similar.

MR, Alam, DP Poppi, and AR Sykes

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 43, , 119-122, 1983