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10 Lab Animal Nutri

The document discusses the nutritional requirements and feeding practices for laboratory animals, particularly guinea pigs, highlighting the impact of life stages, housing conditions, and dietary restrictions on nutrient needs. It emphasizes the importance of formulating diets that meet specific protein, lipid, and mineral requirements while considering the unique need for Vitamin C in guinea pigs. Additionally, it outlines feeding behaviors, growth patterns, and energy requirements for different life stages of guinea pigs.

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8 views4 pages

10 Lab Animal Nutri

The document discusses the nutritional requirements and feeding practices for laboratory animals, particularly guinea pigs, highlighting the impact of life stages, housing conditions, and dietary restrictions on nutrient needs. It emphasizes the importance of formulating diets that meet specific protein, lipid, and mineral requirements while considering the unique need for Vitamin C in guinea pigs. Additionally, it outlines feeding behaviors, growth patterns, and energy requirements for different life stages of guinea pigs.

Uploaded by

sachinnathusari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Laboratory animal Nutrition

INTRODUCTION

 Nutrient requirements change during stages of life cycle especially response to growth ,
pregnancy, lactation.

 Housing types can also effect the amounts of nutrients needed in diets for example
laboratory rodents maintained in either galvanized cages may have a lower dietary
requirements for zinc.

 Bcz zinc available in faeces and cage materials.

 These animals ingest bedding or other non food materials this may provide an unintended
source of some nutrients or toxins.

 In rat and mouse most of microbial activity is in colon, and many of the microbially
produced nutrients are not available to the host unless faeces are consumed.

 Prevention of coprophagy may require an increase in the nutrient conc. that must be
supplied by the diet.

Aspects of feeding

 When rats were given the choice between various diets providing energy from different
sources, the rats chose carbohydrate rich diets in the evening hours, and fat rich diets just
before the start of resting period

Group housing

 Housing and husbandry conditions can influences both amount of food animals ingest,
and the animals feeding patterns

 Individually housed mice of both sexes were found to have higher food intake than mice
housed in groups of two, four or eight per cage.

 Mice housed individually or at two per cage had higher body weight and body weight
variability than other groups.

Dietary restriction

 Number of studies indicated that restricting the calorie intake of laboratory animals may
have beneficial effects on lifespan, incidence and severity of degenerative diseases

 It is important to achieve calorie restriction of test animals without producing unintended


nutrient deficiencies.
 Ex:- adlibitum feeding can result in kidney degeneration in rodents, whereas food
restriction prevent kidney degeneration completely.

Formulation of diet types

 Choice of ingredients will be influenced by the species to be fed and the experimental or
production objectives.

 Guinea pig (Cavies)

 Birth wt – 91-95 grams,

 Maturity (at 5 month) – 700-750 g and

 at 15 month 850-1000 g.

 Boar to sow ration is 1:5

 Age to breed is 2.5-3.0 month.

 Gestation period is 66-72 days.

 Breeding life is 4-6 months to 2 years.

 Number of litters/year is 3.

 Protein and Amino Acid- CP in the diet is 18%. Thirty percent of protein
requirement should come from animal protein sources.

 Lipids- diet should have 0.4% linoleic acid. Use of 1% soybean oil in their diet
will meet linoleic acid requirement.

 Minerals- Ca and P in diet should be 1 and 0.4%, respectively.

 Feeding: diet of guinea pigs can be formulated using cereals, their byproducts,
oilseed meals, green and dry roughages, animal protein supplements along minerals and
vitamins. It is better to feed them in pellet form.

 DMI: Daily DMI in adults is 30g (7-8% of body weight). About 150 ml of water is
needed by an adult daily. Newborn animals can consume semisolid and solid food
immediately, although weaning is followed around 3 weeks of age.
 Target nutrient conc. must take into account estimated nutrient requirements possible
nutrient losses during manufacturing and storage (NRC 1975) bioavailability of nutrients
in the ingredients and potential nutrient interactions.

 Wastage is problem with some types of diets, which may be disadvantage if quantitative
intake is to measured.

Requirement of Vitamin C in guinea pig

 G. pigs are the only non primates’ which have dietary need of vit-C.

 So they are good model for vit-C studies.

 Because of small size and tameness they have long been used for experiments.

 Vitamins- ascorbic acid is dietary essential. Due to lack of enzyme L-gulunolactone


dehydrogenase.

 Requirement is 0.5 mg/100g body wt. As this vitamin is readily oxidized, concentration
in stock diet should be much more (6-8 times).

Digestive physiology of guinea pig

 Guinea pig is a simple stomached animal which is lined with glandular epithelium

 It has large semicircular caecum with numerous lateral pouches

 In caecum synthesis of B vitamins and indispensible a.a.s oocur by microorganisms and


recycling of intestinal contents by coprophagy

Data on feed consumption

 Growing guinea pig-20-30 g/ day

 Adult guinea pig-30-50g/day

 Pregnant and lactating guinea pigs-40-60 g (depending upon litter size and season)

 Dry matter consumption is reduced during hot summer

 Maintenance energy requirements-136KCal ME/BW kg0.75

 Energy requirements for growth -2.8-3.5 Kcal ME/g of feed containing 10% moisture

Feeding of guinea pigs

 Newborn animals can consume semisolid and solid food immediately


 Weaning is followed at around 3 weeks of age

 Guinea pigs normally gain 5-7g/day during rapid growth period when allowed to eat feed
ad libitum

 Growth slows after 2 mths and maturity is reached at about 5 mths (700-750g)

 Weight gain can continue untill 12-15 mths of age (850-1000g)

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