Evaluation of the mineral status of grazing cattle in Trans Nzoia: Preliminary assessment of Data. Proc.

Abstract

A number of diseases and production problems have been observed in grazing ruminants in many countries around the world Some of these problems and health effects have been attributed to dietary imbalances in mineral supply and appear \ to be geographically distributed. Grazing cattle require different levels of minerals in their diet depending on the stage of class of development; young and growing, lactating or pregnancy. Common findings indicate that the lactating and young and growing animals are the most vulnerable to mineral problems, thus providing a sufficient ground for their choice in experimental studies. In this preliminary review of the project, the nutritional status of cattle grazing on a range of farms in Trans Nzoia District are assessed from the mineral content of blood from young and growing as well as lactating animalssampled during the dry and wet seasons of the study period. Data will be evaluated in terms of established criteria normality.