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Abstract

An investigation was carried out into the effects of varied levels of dietary biotin with 5 groups, each of 20 male and 20 female mink kits of the standard and the sapphire colour types, respectively. A balanced diet was fed without or with 0.1 mg biotin supplementation per kg dry matter (DM). Further, a diet based on feedstuffs with low natural biotin content was fed without biotin supplementation, with biotin supplementation up to the minimum requirement for growth or to double this level. The analysed biotin contents were above the calculated for all diets, but the contents of the low biotin diet were close to the minimum requirement for growth. No symptoms of biotin deficiency were documented. Only moderate differences in performance were found between groups. The weight gain of animals fed the low biotin diet was somewhat poorer than for animals fed the standard diet, regardless of biotin supplementation, which was explained by differences in palatability between diets. There was a tendency for a rougher hair coat of the animals on the lowest biotin level during the rearing period but this was not confirmed when the pelts were graded for fur quality characteristics, apart from a tendency for a higher frequency of fur defects in this group. There were no clear-cut positive effects of extra biotin supplementation of a balanced diet. It was concluded that biotin deficiency in practical feeding when no avidin-containing feedstuffs are used is unlikely to occur.

Published in

Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition
1991, volume: 65, number: 5, pages: 235-243
Publisher: BLACKWELL WISSENSCHAFTS-VERLAG GMBH

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0396.1991.tb00262.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/79332