Assessing the various copper supplements effect on performance, some blood parameters and humoral immune response of male Sanjabi lambs

Copper is a microelement that is present in many important processes in the body and plays a vital role. Copper deficiency in some parts of the world is a major problem in ruminants.
For this reason, dietary supplements are commonly used to regulate the diet of sheep to compensate for copper deficiency. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the effects of two forms of copper supplement on performance, some blood parameters and carcass traits of male Sanjabi lambs.

A total of 15 male lambs (26.04±3.38 Kg, 3-4 months) in three groups of five placed in individual pens for a period of 90 days using completely randomized design. The treatments included: (1) basal diet (containing 5.6 mg Cu/kg DM; control) without supplementary Cu, (2) basal diet + 15 mg/kg DM Cu- Lys and (3) basal diet + 15 mg/kg DM Nano-Cu. Supplements on a daily basis, were allocated to the lambs along with basal diet. On days zero, 60, 30 and 90 blood samples were taken from jugular vein and the concentration of plasma Cu and Zn, serum ceruloplasmin level, superoxide dismutase enzyme activity (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde index (MDA), differential count of white blood cells and hematocrit was determined. In the end of experiment, three lambs were slaughtered from each group using standard method. Quadriceps tissue, liver, kidney and spleen samples were taken to measure the amount of Cu and some carcass traits were measured.

The use of Cu supplement in various forms had no effect on growth performance of lambs. Copper supplementation had no effect on SOD and TAC, but the MDA index of blood serum was lower compared to the control (P<0.05). Hematocrit in lambs fed diets containing Cu supplements were not significantly different than the control but the percentage of lymphocyte in lambs received organic Cu and neutrophil percentage in lambs of Nano Cu group were lowest (P<0.05). Addition of Cu-Lys to the diet increased plasma Cu concentration compared to control and Nano-Cu groups (P<0.01) and plasma Zn concentration tended to decrease (P>0.05). Also, supplementation of diet with Cu had no effect on ceruloplasmin concentration, significantly. The amount of copper deposited in liver and spleen tissues of Cu supplemented groups were higher than those of the control (P<0.05).

In general, the results showed that the use of Cu supplement in the form of organic or Nano did not influence growth performance. In addition to that antioxidant status and humoral systems of lambs were not affected, however, malondialdehyde index was improved