Effects of sources and concentrations of zinc on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and fur quality of growing-furring female mink (Mustela vison)

A completely randomized 3 x 3 + 1 factorial experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of sources and concentrations of Zn on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, serum biochemical endpoints, and fur quality in growing-furring female black mink. One hundred fifty healthy 15-wk-old female mink were randomly allocated to 10 dietary treatments (n = 15/group) for a 60-d trial. Animals in the control group were fed a basal diet, which consisted of mainly corn, soybean oil, meat and bone meal, and fish meal, with no Zn supplementation. Mink in the other 9 treatments were fed the basal diet supplemented with Zn from either zinc sulfate (ZnSO4), zinc glycinate (ZnGly), or Zn pectin oligosaccharides (ZnPOS) at concentrations of either 100, 300, or 900 mg Zn/kg DM. The results showed that mink in the ZnPOS groups had higher ADG than those in the ZnSO4 groups (main effect, P < 0.05). The addition of Zn reduced the G: F (P < 0.05). In addition, CP and crude fat digestibility were linearly increased with Zn supplementation (P < 0.05) and N retention tended to increase with Zn addition (P = 0.08). Dietary Zn supplementation increased the concentration of serum albumin and activity of alkaline phosphatase (P < 0.05). There was a linear effect of dietary Zn on the concentration of tibia Zn and pancreatic Zn (P < 0.05). For fur quality characteristics, the fur density and hair color of mink were improved by dietary Zn concentration (P < 0.05). Compared with ZnSO4 (100%), relative bioavailability values of ZnGly were 115 and 118%, based on tibia and pancreatic Zn, respectively, and relative bioavailability values of ZnPOS were 152 and 142%, respectively. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Zn supplementation can promote growth and increase nutrient digestibility and fur quality and that ZnPOS is more bioavailable than ZnSO4 and ZnGly in growing-furring female mink.