35 

 sheep by evaluating Zn and Cu concentrations of selected 

 tissues and serum, and MT in kidney, pancreas and liver. 



Materials and Methods 



Forty crossbred wether lambs averaging 37.6 ± 3.1 kg 

 (mean ± SEM) were randomly assigned to one of five treatments. 

 The treatments consisted of four different sources to supply 

 3 60 mg/d of supplemental Zn : ZnMet, Zn lysine (ZnLys; Zinpro 

 Corporation, Edina, MN) , ZnS0 4 or ZnO (Southeastern Minerals, 

 Bainbridge, GA) and a negative control group which received no 

 supplemental Zn . The basal diet contained from 16 to 20 mg/kg 

 Zn (Table 4-1) . The diet was formulated to be adequate in 

 protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals for this class of 

 sheep (NRC, 1985) . 



Lambs were housed in individual wooden pens (1.4 irr) with 

 expanded metal floors in an open sided barn. Feed intake was 

 restricted to 1000 g/hd daily (as-fed basis) with tap water 

 available ad libitum. The protocol for animal care had been 

 approved by the University of Florida's Institutional Animal 

 Care and Use Committee. 



Lambs were fed the treatment diets for 3 wks following a 

 7 d adjustment period during which all the animals were fed 

 the basal diet. After the first supplementation period, 

 animals were not supplemented with any additional Zn for 4 wks 

 and then supplementation was resumed for the last wk . 



