Concentration of Minerals in Tissues of Pigs from Dams Fed Different Levels of Dietary Zinc

Effects on the tissue mineral concentrations of pigs from sows fed four dietary Zn levels were studied. A male and a female from first- and second-parity litters were killed at 1 and 21 d of age. The dams were fed a corn-soybean meal basal diet supplemented with 0, 50, 500 or 5,000 ppm Zn from 30 kg body weight until completion of the second lactation. Pigs from sows fed 5,000 ppm additional zinc had heavier liver, heart, thyroid and adrenal weights relative to their body weight than did pigs from sows on the other treatments. First- and second-parity pigs from sows on the highest Zn supplementation level had higher Fe stores in the liver, higher Zn concentrations in the liver, kidney and pancrease, and higher Cu levels in the kidney compared with pigs from sows on the other treatments. However, Cu concentrations in the liver, heart, pancreas, esophagus, aorta and testes were reduced in pigs from sows on the 5,000 ppm Zn treatment. In first-parity pigs, Ca in the liver was higher for pigs whose dams received 5,000 ppm Zn compared with pigs from sows on all other treatments, and the Mn level was higher compared with pigs from sows receiving 50 or 500 ppm additional zinc. Pigs at 1 d of age from sows on the 0, 50 or 500 ppm treatment had lower hepatic P and Zn concentrations than pigs from sows on the same treatment at 21 d of age. The reverse was true for pigs whose dams received 5,000 ppm Zn.