Evaluation of bioavailability of selected minerals from Maize Germ Oilcake in crossbred male calves

The objective of this study was to determine the bioavailability of selected minerals from Maize Germ Oilcake. Fifteen Karan Fries male calves of 6–12 months of age were selected and given 1.3, 1.7 and 2.1 kg/d of maize germ oilcake (MGOC) along with 1.7, 1.3 and 0.9 kg/d of wheat straw (WS) in three groups of 5 animals each for 21 days of adaptation period followed by 7 days of metabolism trial. Digestibility of drymatter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extract(EE) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) varied significantly between the groups. Apparent absorption values of Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo) and Zinc (Zn) for maize germ oil cake were in the range of 51.31–56.32%, 44.16–46.16%, 46.09–46.75%, 8.39–12.73%, 7.21–9.59%, 3.38–5.18%, 25.26–27.84%, 46.45–48%and 25.54–26.49%. Addition of maize germ oil cake at varying levels did not have variations in the apparent absorption of minerals.