Mineral and Vitamin Nutrition of Livestock

The book discusses all aspects of mineral and vitamin nutrition of livestock and provides a clear and comprehensive introduction. A unique feature is the description of the practical implications of mineral and vitamin deficiencies, excesses and the conditions that might occur with various animal species. Ample photographs illustrating mineral and vitamin deficiencies in livestock and poultry have been incorporated. Unlike others, this textbook places strong emphasis on mineral and vitamin supplementation in each chapter. Mineral and Vitamin Nutrition of Livestock contains 27 chapters incorporating concise, up-to-date information on mineral and vitamin nutrition for the livestock and poultry. Chapter-1 deals with the definition of minerals, their general functions and bio-availability. Chapter-2 describes the mineral status of soil, feed and fodder for dairy animals in different agro-climatic zones in India. Chapter 3-8 established minerals and newly discovered toxic elements in relation to tissue distribution and function; metabolism; requirements; sources and deficiency. Chapter-9 deals with detection of mineral status in grazing ruminants and Chapter-10 describes the mineral supplementation and methods of mineral evaluation. Chapter 11-25 discusses the vitamins in relation to history; chemical structure, properties, and antagonists; metabolism; functions; requirements; sources; deficiency; supplementation; and toxicity while Chapter 26 deals with other vitamin-like substances. The final chapter discusses vitamin supplementation considerations. The book comprehensively covers the syllabus pertaining to undergraduate and postgraduate subjects of Animal Nutrition. Because of the practical implications, the book will be useful to field veterinarians, farm managers and livestock owners. It will be equally useful to developing countries where such problems and situations of mineral and vitamin deficiencies in livestock are more or less similar.