Preferably browsed forage species by camels (Camelus dromedarius) and their mineral contents in Jijiga district, Eastern Ethiopia

摘要

Theobjectivesofthestudyweretoassesspreferablybrowsedforagespeciesofcamelsandtheircriticalmineralcontents.Dataregardingfeedresourceswerecollectedfrom80householdsusingstructuredandsemistructuredquestionnaires,andvisualobservations.Followingthesurvey,samplesofdominantandpreferablybrowsedforagespecieswerecollectedtodeterminechemicalcomposition.nbsp;Themeanconcentrationofmacroelements(%)Ca(1.91,1.26);Mg(0.48,0.32);K(2.03,1.46);andmicroelements(ppm)Fe(340,97.6);Zn(73.6,56.7);Mn(163,82.9)andCu(19.4,12.2)inthesampledforageswashigherthanthelowerrecommendedlevelsoftheseelementsforcamelsinboththewetandthedryseasons,respectively.However,themeanconcentrationofNa(0.12,0.09)andP(0.12,0.04)werelowerthantherecommendedlevelforcamelsinboththewetandthedryseasons.EffectofseasonswasfoundsignificantforCa,Mg,P,nbsp;Fe,Mnnbsp;Znnbsp;andCuwithhigherconcentrationsinthewetseason.nbsp;nbsp;Itisconcludedthatthecamelsinthestudyareacouldgetadequateamountofthemineralelements:Ca,Mg,K,Fe,Mn,ZnandCufrombrowsesexceptforPandNa.SothereisaneedforPandNasupplementationtothecamelsinthestudydistrictfromothersourcesnbsp;