Trace Minerals for Poultry

Edgar 0. Oviedo-Rondon
DVM, MSc., Ph.D., Dipl. ACPV
Associate Professor/Extension Specialist
Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

Take Home Message

Requirements for TM are not well defined and more research is needed to determine the most
adequate levels in practical diets. Factors such as eggshell strength, internal egg quality, deposition
of TM in yolk, bone strength, reductions in leg problems and footpad dermatitis, improvements on
bone and skin biomechanical properties and collagen formation in several tissues, and immunity
parameters should be considered as better parameters to estimate requirements and bioavailability
values than just mineral accumulation in bones or other tissues. There is a considerable amount of
data that demonstrates that TM affect all parameters previously mentioned. Requirements should be
evaluated using practical diets and normal levels of all other TM. It will become more important to
obtain absolute bioavailability values at least for those sources considered standards. If relative
bioavailability values will continue to be used for TM, these evaluations should additionally use
molecular biomarkers such as protein gene expression in several tissues to test relative absorption
and utilization simultaneously. Organic TM sources definitely have better bioavailability and cause
more positive responses in poultry than ITM sources based on the meaningful biological parameters
previously listed. The methodologies to evaluate OTM product quality and relative bioavailability may
not be adequate at this moment. The optimum combination ratios of ITM with OTM remain to be
established.

Introduction

There are 27 essential minerals for animals, and those found in the diets in less than 100 ppm are
considered micro or trace minerals {TM}. Generally, their levels in the diets will be measured in ppm,
mg/kg or g/ton. In poultry species, the TM that are supplemented are zinc (Zn), copper (Cu),
manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), iodine (1), and selenium (Se). Other trace minerals like cobalt (Co),
chromium (Cr), and molybdenum (Mo) are not generally added in poultry mineral premixes, but they
can have some effects in poultry. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss sources of TM, their
bioavailability, and their utilization in poultry diets. Some examples of utilization of different levels
and sources of trace minerals will be presented. This discussion will include applications in broiler
breeder, broiler, layer, and turkey diets. Aspects of mineral nutrition and functions of TM in
metabolism and health will only be used to illustrate differences among TM sources during the
discussion, because there are several literature reviews on these topics (Leeson, 2005; Salim et al.,
2008; Spears and Hansen, 2008; Bao and Choct, 2009; Sahin et al., 2009).

Trace Mineral Requirements for Poultry

The requirements of TM for poultry are not totally defined and there is considerable variation in
research results and recommended levels for all poultry sectors and feeding phases {Tables 1 to 4 ).
Almost all research used to estimate TM requirements for poultry was done between the 1950's and
1980's, and very little has been done since that time (NRG, 1994; Leeson, 2005). Some of the
recommendations of TM levels are based on estimations from research done in other species, since
research specifically focused to estimate TM requirements has never been conducted in poultry. For
example, there are no research results available for broiler breeders, so levels used are based on

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extrapolation from experience or research results conducted in leghorn layers without considering
needs for embryo development. Consequently, it is difficult to trust that those values are valid for
modern poultry genetically selected for rapid growth, high meat yield or egg production. Thus,
different levels could be appropriate depending on the bioavailability of the source used,
environmental conditions and productivity status. In fact, many of the values compiled in the NRC
(1994) differ greatly from those recommended by genetic companies and currently used in the poultry
industry (Tables 1 to 4). The difficulties to determine TM requirements are similar to the ones
observed at evaluating bioavailability in TM sources and they will be discussed later on in this text
(Spears and Hansen, 2008; Bao and Choct, 2009).

Table 1. Trace mineral levels (g/ton) recommended or used for broiler breeders.
2 3 4
Cobb Hubbard Ross Commercial
5
Trace NRC 43- Pre-lay 0- Prelay 0- 105d-Lay levels
1
minerals (1994) 0-42d 119d & lay 133d & Lay 104d & Males Growing Laying
Copper 10-15 10-15 10-15 10-15 5 10 16 10 6-10 6-12
Manganese 100-120 100 100 120 80 100 120 120 60-85 80-100
Iodine 0.5-2.0 1.5 0.5 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.25 2.0 0.5-0.9 0.5-1.3
Iron 20-55 20-50 20-50 40~55 60 60 40 50 35-50 30-70
Selenium 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2-0.3 0.2-0.35
Zinc 100-120 100 120 110 80 100 100 100 50-65 60-100
7
Balded and italic values indicate that there were no research reports in 1994 for NRC recommendations.
2
Cobb - 500 Breeder management supplement, Cobb-Vantress, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, USA.
3
Hubbard. Management guide parent stock.
4
Ross. Ross Nutrition Supplement, 2009. Parent stock nutrition specification, 2007.
5
Personal communications.

Table 2. Trace mineral levels (g/ton) recommended or used for broilers.

Hubbard
3
Commercial levels 5
Trace NRC
4
minerals (1994) 1 Cobb 2 Broiler "Label" Ross 0-18d 18-35d >35d
Copper 8 15 1O 1O 16 5-10 4-8 · 3-6
Manganese 60 120 80 60 120 70-120 60-100 50-75
Iodine 0.35 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.25 0.6-1.2 0.5-0.9 0.4-0.7
Iron 80 40 60 50 40 20-50 15-40 10-30
Selenium 0.15 0.30 0.20 0.20 0.30 0.25-0.30 0.20-0.32 0.20-0.30
Zinc 40 100 80 70 100 60-85 50-70 40-60
1
Balded and italic values indicate that there were no research reports in 1994 for NRC recommendations.
2
Cobb - 500 Broiler management manual & Cobb Broiler Nutrition Guide. Cobb-Vantress, Siloam Springs, Arkansas,
USA.
3
Hubbard. Management guide Broiler.
4
Ross. Ross Nutrition Supplement. 2009. Broiler Management Guide.
5
Personal communications.

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Table 3. Trace mineral levels (g/ton) recommended or used for leghorn-type chickens in growing and
laying periods and egg-type breeders.

Egg type pullets

1
NRC (1994)
White Brown
strains strains Layers and breeders
Trace 0-6 6-18 0-6 6-18 NRC Lohmann
minerals wk wk wk wk Hy-line2 ISA3 (1994) Hy-line4 ISA5 PAN 6
Copper 5 4 5 4 4.4 6-8 ?-6 9.0 8 5-8
Manganese 60 30 56 28 66 60 17-25 66 70 60-80
Iodine 0.35 0.35 0.33 0.33 0.9 1.0 0.034-0.04 0.9 1.0 0.7-1.0
Iron 80 60 75 56 33 60 38-56 33-66 60 40-45
Selenium 0.15 0.10 0.14 0.10 0.30 0.25 0.03-0.04 0.30 0.25 0.15
Zinc 40 35 38 33 66 60 29-44 66 60 50-60
1
Bolded and italic values indicate that there were no research reports in 1994 for NRC recommendations.
2
Hy-line. Commercial management guide.
3
ISA. Nutrition management guide.
4
Hy-line. Parent stock management guide.
5
ISA. Nutrition management guide.
6
Jeroch, H. Recommendations for energy and nutrients of layers: a critical review. Lohman information 46:61-72.

Table 4. Trace mineral levels {g/ton) recommended or used for turkeys and turkey breeders.
NRC (1994) Commercial recommendations
Trace Growth Breeders Growth Nicholas & BUT 1 Breeder2
minerals 0-8 wk 8-24 wk Holding Laying 0-6wk 7-16wk >17wk Males
Copper 8 6 6 8 12 12 12 20
Manganese 70-50 60-50 60 60 130-120 110 110 100-120
Zinc 70-65 40 40 65 100 100-80 80 70-100
Iodine 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 3-2 2-1 1 2
Iron 80-60 60-50 50 60 100-80 60-45 45 20-50
Selenium 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4-0.3 0.3-0.25 0.2 0.2
Aviagen. Feeding Guidelines for Nicholas and B.U.T. Medium Lines.
2
Aviagen. Feeding Guides for Breeder Males.

Trace Mineral Sources

Trace minerals can be ingested through drinking water, feed ingredients, and supplemental sources.
The supplemental sources can be inorganic salts or organic sources (Tables 5 and 6). Adequate
drinking water should not provide considerable amounts of TM, and generally its contribution is
disregarded. The total Cu and Zn provided by corn soybean meal diets or diets based on other
grains feed ingredients could be enough for the needs of young broilers, but their bioavailability is
generally low or too variable due to phytate content and other factors. The few bioavailabilities
reported for feed ingredients range from 40 to 78% (Leeson, 2005).

Inorganic sources of TM (ITM) generally are oxides, sulfates, and in some cases carbonates. In the
inorganic salts the metal ion is bound by electrovalency which can easily release free ions. Those
free ions can react with other dietary molecules, like other metals, phytate, phosphate, polyphenols
or ascorbic acid. These reactions can form compounds difficult to absorb or can change the form of
the ion to a non-absorbable state. Additionally, free ions can affect enzymatic activities in the
intestinal tract. Apparently, these problems could be solved with metal chelates, also called organic
sources of TM, which could be protected from pH changes during digestion and traverse the
mucosal cell and basement membrane intact into the blood circulation.

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Table 5. Main trace mineral sources and relative biological values.
Relative Standard
Chemical formula Element% Bioavailabilit~ deviation
Zinc
Inorganic Sources
Zinc sulfate (heptahydrate) ZnS0 4 . 7H 20 22 100
Zinc sulfate (monohydrate) ZnSO4 . H2O 36 100
Zinc oxide ZnO 46 -80 50-67 25
Zinc carbonate Zn. CO 3 52-56 93-100 16
Zinc chloride ZnCl 2 48 100-107
Organic Sources
Zinc methionine 4 - 10 131 11
Zinc lysine 9.5 105 - 115
Zinc amino acid chelate Zn (x)1-3· nH2O 9.5 98 - 112
(x =anion of any amino acid
derived from hydrolysed
soya protein)
Zinc proteinate 13-14 100- 111
Zinc polysaccaride 19 94-105

Copper
Inorganic Sources
Copper sulphate (pentahydrate) CuS0 4 . 5H 20 25 100
Cupric sulfate (anhydrous) CuSO 4 39.9 100
Copper hydroxide Cu(OHh
Copper nitrate Cu(NO3h 33.9
Copper orthophosphate Cu3(PO4h
Copper acetate Cu(OAch 32.1 103 10
Cupric carbonate (monohydrate) CuCO 3.Cu(OHh.H2O 50 - 55 64 4
Cupric chloride CuCl 2 37 81
Cupric chloride tribasic, CuiOHhCI 58-60 103
Cupric oxide, CuO 75-80 0-10
Organic Sources
Cupric methionine Cu(CsH10NO2S h variable 91
Cupric lysine 10 109 - 124
Cupric amino acid chelate Cu (x)1_3· nH2O 9 122
(x =anion of any amino acid
derived from hydrolysed
soya protein)
Cupric proteinates 8-10 105 - 111

Manganese
Inorganic Sources
Manganous sulfate MnS0 4 . H20 28.5-32 100
(monohydrate)
Manganous oxide MnO 52 - 77 70-85 12
Manganous dioxide MnO2 36 -43 31 -95
Manganous carbonate MnCO3 43-47 30-66
Manganous chloride ( tetra hydrate) MnCl 2. 4H 2O 27.5 97
Organic Sources
Manganese methionine 15 110
Manganese eroteinate 10 109-112 12
Sources: Sauvant et al., 2004; Ewing and Charlton, 2007.

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Table 6. Iodine, iron, selenium and cobalt sources and relative biological values.
Relative Standard
Chemical formula Element% Bioavailability deviation
Iodine
Inorganic Sources
Potassium or sodium iodide 76-84 100
Calcium iodate (anhydrous) Ca(lO 3h 65 95
Calcium iodate (hexahydrate) Ca(IO3)2 6H2O 51
Calcium iodide Cal2 86.4
Ethyldiaminedihydroiodide (EDDI) C2H10l2N2 80

Iron
Inorganic Sources
Ferrous sulphate heptahydrate FeSO4 . 5H 2O 20 100
Ferric ammonium citrate C5Hs+4yF exNyO1 17 115
Ferrous carbonate FeCO3 47 27 39
Ferric citrate FeC 6 HsO1· 3H2O 16.5-18.5
Ferric chloride (hexahydrate) FeCl3. 6H2O 20 106
Ferrous chloride (tetrahydrate) FeCl 3. 4H 2O 28 106
Ferrous sulphate monohydrate FeSO4 H2O 33 103 1
Ferric orthophosphate (FePO4)2· 5H 2O 37 10 4
Ferric sodium pyrophosphate Fe Na 01 P2 16 12 8

Selenium
Inorganic Sources
Sodium selenite Na2O3Se 45 100
Calcium selenite CaSeO3.H2O 41.4 104
Cobalt selenite CoSeO3 32
Sodium selenate Na2SeO4 41 92 25
Organic Sources
Selenium methionine variable 78 27
Yeast selenium variable 108

Cobalt
Cobalt sulphate heptahydrate CoSO4 .7H 2O 22
Cobalt carbonate CoCO 3 49
Cobalt glucoheptonate 2.5
Cobalt oxide Co 3O4 65-75
Sources: Sauvant et al., 2004; Ewing and Charlton, 2007.

There are different sources of organic trace minerals (OTM) and several commercial products
available containing Zn, Cu, Mn, and Se (Tables 5 and 6). All of these commercial products should
be classified according to the following four definitions given by the Association of American Feed
Control Officials (AAFCO):

1. Metal Amino Acid Chelate. Products resulting from the reaction of a soluble metal salt with
amino acids with a molar ratio of one mole metal to one to three moles of amino acids to form
coordinate covalent bonds. This is a ratio of 1:1 to 1:3 metal:amino acid. The average weight of
the hydrolysed amino acids must be approximately 150 and resulting molecular weight of the
chelate must not exceed 800. Minimum .metal content must be declared. To be classified as a
chelate, a ligand or chelating agent must contain a minimum of two functional groups (oxygen,
nitrogen, amino, hydroxyl), each capable of donating a pair of electrons to combine (via
coordinate covalent bonding) with a metal, and must form a heterocyclic ring structure with the

218
 metal. Amino acids are examples of 'bidentate' ligands, which bond to metal ions via an oxygen of
the carboxylic acid group and the nitrogen of the amino group.

2. Metal Amino Acid Complex. Products resulting from combining a soluble metal salt with an
amino acid. This is a ratio of 1:1 metal:amino acid. For these products, the minimum metal
content must be declared.

3. Metal proteinate. Products resulting from the chelation of a soluble salt with amino acids and/or
partially hydrolysed protein. This is a ratio of 1:1 metal: polypeptide.

4. Metal polysaccharide complex. Product resulting from complexing a soluble salt with a
polysaccharide solution declared as an ingredient as the specific metal complex.

Selenium (Se) cannot be chelated in the same manner, but organic forms are available as selenized
yeast where Se is present within the sulphur-containing amino acids displacing the sulphur.

Methodologies for Chemical Analyses of TM Sources

Atomic absorption spectroscopy is the standard methodology to evaluate concentrations of Zn, Cu,
Mn, Co and Fe according to the official method 968.08 (AOAC, 1996). The range of variation in
analytical results for these minerals can oscillate between 20 and 25%. For Se and I, the official
methods to determine their concentrations are 969.06 and 934.02, and the permitted analytical
variations for these TM are 25 and 40%, respectively (AOAC, 1996). Another method that is
frequently used is the Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy. These analyses
do not indicate what proportion of the mineral can be utilized by animals. Bioavailability studies are
necessary to determine their absorption and utilization. The methodologies to estimate bioavailability
of TM have been described by Ammerman et al. (1995) and Bao and Choct (2009), and will be
discussed in this text later on.

There is not an agreement on the methodology to test the amount of chelation, complexing or
proteination of the mineral ion to the organic ligand of OTM products or its quality (AAFCO, 2006).
Several different chemical methods have been used to evaluate the solubility and strength of mineral
chelation, as described by Cao et al. (2000), for commercial OTM products. Parameters that can be
used to evaluate quality of OTM include total mineral content, amino acid profiling, the nitrogen-to-
mineral ratio, the percentage of bound mineral, size or molecular weight, solubility and stability.
However, after evaluating those parameters in vitro, animal feeding trials have failed to distinguish
among organic products with regard to absorption, and bone, liver or pancreas deposition of Zn (Cao
et al., 2000) and Cu (Guo et al., 2001 ). Several indicators of chelation integrity and solubility had
been reported to have little value as predictors of bioavailability (r ~ 0.445) and sometimes very
2

strong chelation strength can cause low bioavailability (Huang et al., 2009).

Frequently, it is argued in publicity for OTM products that stability of the compound before absorption
is very important to guarantee that the metal will be strongly bound to the ligand. This theory
indicates that the stability constant of an OTM is usually higher when the ligand is a single amino
acid or dipeptide. If the ligand molecular size increases, the stability constant usually decreases.
Thus, according to this theory, products with high stability constant values have ligands or chelates
that can guarantee that the TM will be carried and delivered to the small intestine for absorption
independently of intestinal pH. The stability constant must be high enough to allow metal ion removal
at the metabolic point of use, and the ligand molecular weight must be low enough to permit intact
absorption of the metal complex. However, results of experiments with animals, previously cited, do
not show great differences among OTM products of different stability constants.

219
Animal Responses to Trace Mineral Sources

Results of scientific evaluations indicate no significant and/or consistent differences between

inorganic or organic sources on poultry performance evaluated as body weight gain, feed
conversion, and egg production. In fact, bioavailability studies have indicated that not all OTM are
more available than ITM (Tables 5 and 6). However, positive effects of OTM have been observed on
mineral tissue accumulation, bone and eggshell strength and egg internal quality (Mabe et al., 2003;
Zamani et al., 2005a, b; Fernandes et al., 2008; Swiatkiewicz and Koreleski, 2008), reduction of leg
problems in broilers and turkeys (Ferket et al., 2009), improved immunity (Virden et al., 2003;
Hudson et al., 2004) breast meat yield, reduction of footpad dermatitis, and improved skin traits
(Rossi et al., 2007; Salim et al., 201 O; Zhao et al., 2010). Some benefits in immunity and bone
development of the chick progeny have been observed when feeding OTM to broiler breeders
(Virden et al., 2003; Hudson et al., 2004; Eusebio-Balcazar et al., 201 O; Leandro et al., 2010). These
beneficial effects cannot always be obtained by increasing the level of an inorganic source.
Combinations of ITM with OTM seem to have positive responses, not completely additive, but total
substitution of ITM by OTM seems to be better. However, the return on investment may not be easy
to measure. The literature reviewed is not clear about the best ratio to combine an ITM source with
OTM products. Frequently, increasing levels of ITM cause antagonisms that reduce performance
and impact bioavailability of other TM (Leeson, 2005; Sunder et al., 2008).

Currently, the inorganic sources of TM face another issue. Nowadays, great proportion of Cu is
obtained from electric and electronic recycling that may contain dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCB), and heavy metals like cadmium. In processing of Zn sulfate, it is also possible to observe
cadmium contamination. These contaminants can affect animal immunity, bone growth,
performance, and can additionally accumulate in meat and eggs for human consumption. Several
poultry health problems and contamination of poultry products have been reported in popular press
causing negative impact on productivity and marketing for the poultry industry. Additionally, high
levels of TM can negatively affect soil and water. Environmental regulations are increasing
worldwide to limit TM levels of feed in an attempt to minimize their excretion and environmental
impact. The European Union legislated (Commission Regulation, 2003) the reduction in permitted
feed concentrations of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn. This regulation is not specific for poultry, but under
the denomination of "other species" sets the limits to include TM in poultry diets, which are close to
the minimum requirement recommended levels. To comply and avoid poultry health issues, animal
industries have adopted the use of TM sources that may have higher or guaranteed bioavailability.
Consequently, these are additional reasons that have made OTM sources more interesting for
animal feeds. It is expected, though not completely guaranteed, that these OTM products should not
contain contaminants and should have higher bioavailability to feed at low concentrations. Possible
contaminants in all TM sources should be periodically evaluated and bioavailability of new sources
should be established.

Bioavailability of Trace Mineral Sources

Mineral bioavailability is the degree to which an animal can absorb and utilize a mineral from one
particular source (Ammerman et al., 1995). Bioavailability encompasses the sum of impacts that
may reduce or promote the absorption and metabolic utilization of a nutrient (Schumann et al.,
1997). Bioavailability is not an inherent characteristic of a particular source of an element, but rather
an experimentally determined value that is related to absorption and utilization under conditions of
the test (Fairweather-Tait, 1996; Guo et al., 2001 ). In other words, bioavailability is not independent
of the animal test. In fact, it is well known that several factors affect TM utilization (Bao and Choct,
2009). These factors include, but are not limited to, age of bird, dietary protein contents, dietary Ca
and P, and environmental temperature. Therefore, there is no single, correct value to assign to any
particular source of an element, although this is a common misconception among researchers and
the feed industry. Consequently, the relative values of bioavailability are just guides to know how

220
available the TM is in that specific source and it should not be used as an absolute value to calculate
exact amounts of nutrients needed.

Bioavailabilities are expressed in each test as relative values to a mineral from a given source of
known highly available, usually called "standard" source. The standard or reference sources for each
TM were placed first and balded on Tables 5 and 6. These standards are usually ITM salts like zinc
sulfate, copper sulfate, or manganous sulfate that are set as 100% bioavailable, though a great
proportion of ingested mineral is excreted. However, it is known that the absolute bioavailability of
these standards is not 100%. In the case of OTM, the present techniques cannot trace the
absorption and metabolic fate of the minerals in OTM products, because they cannot be
manufactured with an intrinsic radio- or stable-isotopic label at a reasonable price. There are no
recent scientific reports of absolute bioavailability of TM for modern poultry. Consequently, the
bioavailability of all TM is calculated relative to that of the ITM standard source.

The methodologies to determine bioavailability and requirements of TM have been very well
described and their problems discussed (Ammerman et al., 1995; Spears and Hansen, 2008; Bao
and Choct, 2009). All methodologies present some disadvantages. For example, generally it is
necessary to create a series of treatments with increasing dietary levels of the mineral. The levels
used are generally higher than the estimated nutritional needs to be able to detect accumulation in
bone or other tissues. The elevated dietary levels can represent problems with TM interactions and
antagonisms that have been previously discussed (Leeson, 2005 ; Sunder et al., 2008; Spears and
Hansen, 2008; Bao and Choct, 2009). The methodology used and the levels of other TM and
nutrients in the experimental diets can greatly impact bioavailability values, not to mention the animal
and environmental factors.

The majority of studies have indicated that OTM are more bioavailable than ITM. Additionally, recent
reports (Zhao et al., 2010; Manangi et al., 2012) have indicated that using low levels of OTM with
higher availability than ITM may have better responses. Feasible explanations for these results
include possible absorption of intact chemically inert forms using peptide or amino acid transport
mechanisms, reduction in the hydroxy-polymerisation of the metal allowing its effective donation to
higher molecular weight binding ligands such as mucin, which keep them soluble and available to
the mucosa for effective absorption . This is the reason that solubility at certain pH or stability
constants of ligands are considered as indicators of stability, but, again, cannot be considered
always as predictors of in vivo results. For example, the bioavailability in chicks of the Zn and Cu in
commercial organic Zn and Cu products was mostly related to negative solubility of Zn in pH 5 buffer
(r2 = 0.924) and solubility of Cu in pH 2 (r2 = 0.91) in studies conducted by Cao et al., (2000) and
Guo et al., (2001 ). However, the absorption of the intact and neutral form of OTM has not been
demonstrated yet, and it is possible that due to changes in pH in the poultry gastrointestinal tract,
some dissociation of OTM should occur. Nevertheless, the fact that several positive results have
been observed when replacing ITM partially or totally with OTM indicates that the complexed form is
beneficial for the uptake of TM. There is a need to develop better methodologies to evaluate both
aspects of bioavailability, absorption and utilization.

Some functional assays have been used to determine bioavailability of TM in small populations of
animals. The main function of Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe is to be catalyst of many enzyme systems within
cells, or even to be constituent of certain enzymes. In spite of these important functions, deficiencies
of Zn and Cu cannot always be detected by loss of enzyme activity. This could be related to the high
affinity of metalloenzymes to retain their metal under situations with very low intake of the metal due
to low dietary concentrations. Broilers can maintain constant tissue concentrations of Zn under
dietary deficiency of Zn, but feed intake, and consequently growth is depressed (Bao and Choct,
2009). Recently, more sensitive methodologies have been used for bioavailability. This includes
measuring gene expression of specific proteins that are up or down regulated for metals in specific
tissues. For example, Huang et al. (2009) demonstrated how the metallothionein {MT) mRNA

221
concentration in pancreas was more sensitive for reflecting differences in bioavailability among
organic Zn sources than the MT concentration in pancreas or other indices such as bone or
pancreas Zn concentrations. Richards (2010) discussed how measuring MT mRNA expression in
small intestine as a biomarker can help determine the relative bioavailability of Zn organic sources at
dietary concentrations of 70 ppm, which is close to the levels that the mineral will be fed in practical
poultry diets. In the same way, other proteins or expression of those proteins, such as ceruloplasmin
for copper, could be used to measure bioavailability of TM in animals.

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NOTES

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 AGRI-TECH

Sparboe Farms Inc., headquartered in Litchfield, MN is the nation's 4 th largest egg producer.
Sparboe Farms is family owned and has been in business for 55 years. Its sister company,
Sparboe Foods Inc. is a major producer of liquid and dried egg products. The company provides
shell eggs to major grocery chains throughout the country and processed egg products to major
food manufacturers.

The AGRI-TECH division provides nutrition consulting and premixes to the egg production
industry in the U.S. and several foreign countries.

Dr. Bruce R. Behrends

Sparboe Farms Inc., AGRI-TECH
PO Box 309
Litchfield, MN 55455
Bruce.behrends@sparboe.com
WWW.SPARBOE.COM

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