International Journal of Cow Science
Year : 2007, Volume : 3, Issue : 1&2
First page : ( 24) Last page : ( 26)
Print ISSN : 0973-2241.

Effect of inorganic and organic zinc supplementation on sexual behavior in crossbred cattle (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) bulls

Kumar N, Verma RP, Singh LP, Dass RS¹

Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243122, (UP)

Animal Reproduction Division

¹Animal Nutrition Division, E-mail: rsd@ivri.up.nic.in

Abstract

An experiment was conducted on 12 crossbred bulls (about 2 years of age, 316.2 ± 0.77kg body weight) divided into 3 groups of four animals in each to study the effect of inorganic and organic zinc supplementation on their sexual behavior. All the animals were fed on wheat straw and concentrate mixture to meet their nutrients requirement. In addition animals in-group II and III were supplemented with 35-ppm zinc as zinc sulphate (inorganic zinc) and zinc propionate (organic zinc), respectively, whereas group I served as non-supplemented control group. This feeding experiment lasted for 9 months. In last 3 months of feeding, animals in all the three groups were closely observed for their libido and sexual behavior at the time of semen collection and scoring was made as per the method of Anzar et al. (1993). Results revealed that reaction time (seconds) and sexual behavior (percent) values were significantly (P<0.01) higher in 35ppm zinc propionate supplemented group as compared to control and zinc sulphate supplemented group, indicating that zinc propionate was better in enhancing the sexual behavior of crossbred bulls as compared to zinc sulphate.

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Keywords

Crossbred bulls, zinc sulphate, zinc propionate, sexual behavior.

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