| Livestock Research for Rural Development 25 (8) 2013 | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD Newsletter | Citation of this paper |
A study was carried out in three locations of north eastern Kenya i.e. Saka, Kutulo and Bute to establish the status of minerals in the plasma of north eastern Kenya camels and to find out whether there could be significant differences in the type and magnitude of mineral deficiencies between north eastern and upper eastern Kenya camels. This was with a view to developing a common mineral formula for use by feed manufacturing companies to prepare and make available effective mineral supplements for camels. The study was implemented using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with factorial arrangement of treatments. During the wet season 110 lactating camels were identified through a two stage random process and sampled for blood in the three study sites. In the dry season, a total of 99 blood samples were taken from largely the same camels which had been bled during the wet season with only a few exceptions. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein using vacutainer® needles in the morning before the camels were released for grazing. The plasma was separated through spinning of the blood. Duplicate samples were assayed for potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co) and copper (Cu) using the AAS method and selenium (Se), chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo) using graphite furnace.
The results showed that plasma concentration of K, Zn and Co was above the recommended threshold for grazing ruminants in both dry and wet seasons. For Ca and Mg, concentration of the minerals in the plasma was above and below the recommended level in dry and wet seasons, respectively. The concentrations of P and Cu in the dry season were lower while that of Se and Mo during the wet season was below the recommended level. The results further showed that the upper eastern Kenya had significantly higher (p<0.05) levels of P and Cu during the dry season while in the wet season, upper eastern Kenya was higher in terms of P, Na, Ca, Mg and Fe. The north eastern Kenya had significantly higher levels of K and Mg in the dry and P, Cu, and Co in the wet season, respectively, than the upper eastern Kenya camels. The north eastern Kenya had higher level of K and Zn than upper eastern in the wet season although the differences were not significant (p>0.05). The study concluded that camels in north eastern Kenya were unlikely to suffer deficiencies with respect to K, Zn and Co. On the other hand, the camels were at risk of suffering deficiencies of Ca, Mg, Se and Mo during wet season and, P and Cu in the dry season. Comparing the north and upper eastern Kenya camels, there were indeed significant differences in the type and magnitude of potential mineral deficiencies suggesting that a compromise formula would be needed if manufacturers were to make a mineral supplement for effective use in both regions.
Key words: effective supplements, feed manufacturers, grazing camels, mineral deficiencies
Kenya has 2.9 million camels (GoK 2009) which play an important role in the pastoral economy. There are deliberate efforts by the Government of Kenya to promote production and improve productivity of camels in her arid and semi-arid areas in an effort to make the pastoral communities therein more adaptable to climate change. Research results by Kuria et al (2006) suggested deficiency of minerals in camels in Marsabit area, located in the upper eastern region of the country. However, there is no published information on the mineral status of camels in north eastern Kenya which is home for >50% of the Kenya camel population (GoK 2009).
Macro and micro minerals are essential elements for animal functioning and health (Yasmin et al 2010). Trace elements such as cobalt, selenium, copper, zinc and iron are integral components of some enzymes and are also involved in many physiological activities. Deficiency of trace elements therefore leads to a wide variety of pathological consequences and metabolic defects (Deen et al 2004). On the other hand, macro elements such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium etc are important structural components and their deficiency weakens the body structures. There are reports of clinical mineral deficiencies in camels (Faye et al 1992, Faye and Bengoumi 1994, Lie et al 1994) and their incidence and importance tend to be underestimated because sub-clinical forms of deficiencies can go unnoticed for extended periods due to the versatile nature of the camels (Badiei et al 2006).
The main objectives of this study were to establish the status of minerals in the plasma of north eastern Kenya camels and to find out whether there could be significant differences in the type and magnitude of mineral deficiencies between north eastern and upper eastern Kenya camels. This was with a view to developing a common mineral formula for use by feed manufacturing companies to prepare and make available effective mineral supplements for camels.
The study was carried out in three locations i.e. Saka in Garissa, Kutulo in Wajir East and Bute in Wajir North administrative districts. The community involved in the study was Somali and the study area lie approximately between longitude 37°35’ to 40°30’E and latitude 01°00’ to 03°00'N. These locations were selected due to their relative importance with respect to mineral sources for camels and the fact that they most of the time tend to have a high density of camels. The three districts are classified as arid, falling in ecological zones V and VI but with a few pockets of high crop production potential especially along permanent rivers. The area is generally low lying with annual rainfall ranging from 120 to 500 mm. The rainfall pattern is bimodal with peaks in April and November. The temperatures vary from 23 to 34oC with the period between January and April being very hot (MLFD 2003). Evaporation is high, exceeding 2,600 mm annually over most of the area. Soils in the study area varied greatly ranging from whitish sand, heavy clay, dark red calcareous clay and dusky red soils.
During the wet season 110 lactating camels were sampled for blood from the three sites that is, 33 in Saka (Garissa), 32 in Kutulo (Wajir east) and 45 in Bute (Wajir north). The sampling was done in two stages where between five and ten camel herds were randomly chosen in the first stage in each site. This was followed by random selection of about 35 camels from the different herds whose blood was sampled. The parity of the sampled camels was in the range of 1- 6, stage of lactation was ranging from 1 to 26 months while the last watering had been done between 0 and 90[1] days. In the dry season, a total of 99 blood samples were taken from largely the same camels which had been bled during the wet season with only a few exceptions necessitated by the fact that some camels could not be traced and the need to get a reasonable sample size to facilitate reasonable statistical inferences. The samples for the dry season were distributed as follows; 35 in Saka (Garissa), 34 in Kutulo (Wajir east) and, 30 in Bute (Wajir north). About 85% of the camels were still lactating in the dry season while 15% were pregnant or had dried up. The parity range in the dry season was 1 – 7, lactation stage of the camels was in the range of 2 to 24 months while days when the last watering had been done ranged from 0 to 15 days.
Blood samples were collected from the identified camels in the morning before they were released for grazing depending on the management of the owners (camels were mostly released for grazing at 7.00 am). Bleeding of the camels was via jugular vein using 20 gauge vacutainer® needles and 10ml vacutainer® tubes with EDTA Na as anticoagulant. The tubes were gently inverted a few times to ensure thorough mixing of the blood with the anticoagulant. The samples were centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes to separate the plasma. Using disposable plastic pipettes, the plasma was siphoned and dispensed into 1.8 ml cryovials. The samples were stored in an ordinary fridge in the field and later delivered to the laboratory for analysis.
Mineral analysis was done using the AAS method (Bellanger 1971, Bellanger and Lamand 1975) particularly for potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, cobalt and copper while Se, Cr and Mo were analyzed using graphite furnace (US EPA 2004). The samples were analyzed in duplicate followed by computation of the averages.
It was a Completely Randomized Design with factorial arrangement of the treatments. The factors were two i.e. site and season where site had three levels that is, Garissa, Wajir East and Wajir north. The season factor had two levels i.e. dry and wet.
The data entry and cleaning was done in Excel while analysis was done using the GLM procedure of SAS Version 8 (SAS 1999). For the purpose of analyses, the parities were categorized into three that is, <3 calving, <6 and >6 calving. Lactation stages were categorized into three i.e. <6 months, <13 and >13 months. Physiological statuses were categorized into two that is, lactating and pregnant-lactating. There were very few pregnant and dry camels which were clustered with the pregnant-lactating ones as the number could not justify other categories. Days from last watering as a variable was also categorized into three i.e. <8 days, <15 and >15 days. The types of analyses carried out included: testing the effect of parity, stage of lactation, physiological status and days from last watering on the mineral concentration in the blood plasma; within sites-between seasons comparisons; within seasons-between sites comparisons; seasonal comparison of the mean values between north eastern and upper eastern Kenya. The results were tabulated.
There was a general decline in the level of macro (P, K, Na, Mg) and micro (Co, Cu, Zn) elements in the plasma as the number of parities increased. Calcium and Mo concentration increased with parity while Se and Cr remained constant (Table 1).
|
Table 1: Effect of parity, stage of lactation, physiological status and days from last watering on the mineral concentration in plasma (ppm) |
||||||||||||
|
|
LS means for parities |
LS means for lactation stages |
LS means for physiological statuses |
LS means for days from last watering |
||||||||
|
Mineral elements |
<3 |
<6 |
>6 |
<6 |
<13 |
>13 |
Lactating |
Lactating & pregnant |
Pr > |t| |
<8 |
<15 |
>15 |
|
Phosphorus |
31.4±2.0 |
29.9±2.3 |
29.3±4.9 |
29.4±3.6 |
30.8±2.7 |
30.4±2.3 |
31.1±2.0 |
29.2±3.6 |
<.0001 |
28.8±2.2 |
29.4±4.1 |
32.4±3.1 |
|
Potassium |
703±101 |
634±115 |
632±230 |
847±175 |
559±132 |
563±112 |
629±98 |
684±182 |
<.0001 |
648±113 |
682±204 |
639±151 |
|
Calcium |
58.7±31.8 |
73.3±35.9 |
67.8±28.9 |
72.3±44.7 |
66.7±40.0 |
63.5±35.1 |
54.5±29.6 |
41.1±23.5 |
<.0001 |
50.7±32.5 |
63.8±35.8 |
74.5±46.4 |
|
Sodium |
3829±452 |
3405±514 |
3458±1030 |
3410±787 |
3404±593 |
3879±503 |
2408±438 |
4720±817 |
<.0001 |
3239±507 |
4342±916 |
3111±675 |
|
Magnesium |
86.5±4.0 |
82.4±4.5 |
77.6±8.5 |
84.6±6.6 |
79.0±5.0 |
82.9±4.4 |
81.0±3.8 |
83.3±6.8 |
<.0001 |
85.1±4.1 |
82.4±8.0 |
79.1±5.8 |
|
Cobalt |
0.4±0.04 |
0.4±0.1 |
0.3±0.1 |
0.4±0.1 |
0.4±0.1 |
0.4±0.1 |
0.4±0.04 |
0.3±0.1 |
<.0001 |
0.3±0.04 |
0.3±0.09 |
0.6±0.06 |
|
Copper |
1.1±0.1 |
1.0±0.1 |
0.7±0.2 |
0.7±0.1 |
1.0±0.1 |
1.0±0.1 |
1.0±0.1 |
0.8±0.1 |
<.0001 |
0.8±0.1 |
0.7±0.2 |
1.2±0.1 |
|
Zinc |
1.4±0.4 |
1.4±0.4 |
1.0±0.8 |
1.0±0.6 |
1.4±0.4 |
1.4±0.4 |
1.4±0.3 |
1.2±0.6 |
<.0001 |
0.6±0.4 |
2.7±0.7 |
1.5±0.5 |
|
Molybdenum |
0 |
0 |
0.05±0.02 |
0.02±0.01 |
0.02±0.01 |
0.02±0.01 |
0.02±0.01 |
0.02±0.02 |
ns |
0.02±0.01 |
0.02±0.01 |
- |
|
Selenium |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
ns |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
Chromium |
0.004±0.001 |
0.004±0.001 |
0.004±0.002 |
0.01±0.002 |
0.003±0.002 |
0.003±0.002 |
0.004±0.002 |
0.004±0.003 |
ns |
0.004±0.001 |
0.004±0.002 |
- |
These results partly agreed with earlier findings by Kuria et al (2006) who reported low levels of K, P and Cu in the plasma of camels with higher parity. Judson (1996) had also reported declining trend in P with advancing age in agreement with the findings of this study. The milk yield of camels usually increases from the first parity attaining a maximum at the 4th one. Between the first and the 4th parities, mineral elements such as P and Ca are lost through the milk thus lowering the concentration of same in the blood. Concentration of the mineral elements K, Ca, Na, Mg and Cr declined while that of P increased marginally with advancing stage of lactation. The concentration of the micro-elements Cu and Zn increased while that of Co and Mo remained constant with advancing stage of lactation. Variations in the plasma mineral concentration with stage of lactation largely agreed with Kuria et al (2006) who had reported a declining trend for Ca, K and Na with advancing stage of lactation and an increasing trend for P and Cu while Co remained constant.
Regarding the physiological status, the camels which were pregnant and at the same time lactating had lower levels of P, Ca, Co, Cu and Zn compared to those which were only lactating, suggesting high demand for these particular minerals in the body of the former category of camels. However, the reverse was true for K, Na and Mg while the concentration of Mo, Se and Cr was the same for both groups of camels. These findings compared favorably with earlier reports by Nagpal et al (1997), Vitorrio et al (1999), Muna et al (2003) and Kuria et al (2006). While Kuria et al (2006) reported higher levels of K, Na, Fe, Cu and Zn in camels that were only lactating, Nagpal et al (1997), Vittorio et al (1999) and Muna et al (2003) observed that both macro and micro mineral elements did fluctuate in the blood of camels depending on the physiological state. With the exception of Mg whose concentration declined and the Mo, Se and Cr which remained constant with increasing level of dehydration, all the other minerals assayed in this study increased in concentration with the increase in the level of dehydration. These findings concurred with those of Abdalla et al (1988) and, Ayub and Saleh (1998). Abdalla et al (1988) had noted that restriction of water intake in camels increased the concentration of both macro and micro elements in the blood. Ayub and Saleh (1998) too had observed that hematological and serum mineral levels are affected by degree of dehydration, common in camels raised under traditional range grazing systems. Worth noting is that of all the studied mineral elements, the plasma concentration of Na was the highest in agreement with earlier reports by Abdalla et al (1988) and, Osman and Al-Busadah (2003).
Tables 2 and 3 shows how the plasma mineral concentration varied with seasons.
|
Table 2: Plasma mineral concentration (ppm) (LSmean ± SE) for macro elements in dry and wet seasons |
|||||
|
|
Potassium |
Sodium |
Phosphorus |
Calcium |
Magnesium |
|
Dry |
910±133 |
4479±595 |
2.7±0.8 |
128±41 |
152±5.1 |
|
Wet |
403±129 |
2649±577 |
59.6±2.7 |
38.7±8.1 |
12±4.9 |
|
Pr>/t/ |
<.0001 |
<.0001 |
<.0001 |
<.0001 |
<.0001 |
|
Recommended |
151.25 |
3837 |
48.08 |
92.79 |
25.96 |
|
Table 3: Plasma mineral concentration (ppm) (LS mean ± SE) for micro elements in dry and wet seasons |
||||||
|
Units? |
Zinc |
Copper |
Cobalt |
Selenium |
Chromium |
Molybdenum |
|
Dry |
1.41±0.5 |
0.2±0.1 |
0.2±0.1 |
nd |
0.004±0.001 |
0.02±0.01 |
|
Wet |
1.11±0.4 |
1.6±0.1 |
0.6±0.1 |
nd |
nd |
nd |
|
Pr>/t/ |
<.05 |
<.0001 |
<.0001 |
nd |
nd |
nd |
|
Recommended |
0.91 |
0.82 |
0.08 |
0.23 |
|
0.48 |
| nd Not determined | ||||||
The concentration of macro elements K, Na, Ca and Mg declined from dry to wet season while that of P increased (Table 2) . The concentration of Zn (Table III) also decreased from dry to wet season while that of Cu and Co (Table III) increased from dry to wet season. In the case of P, Cu and Co, the available forage during the wet season may have improved the profile of these minerals in camels in line with an earlier observation by Alia et al (2007). Kuria et al (2006) had reported a decrease in the plasma concentration of Ca, K, Na, and Zn and an increase in P and Cu from dry to wet season in agreement with the findings of the current study. Alia et al (2007) reported significantly higher P and Ca in wet than dry season agreeing with the findings of the current study with respect to P but disagreeing in terms of Ca. The plasma concentration of K, Zn and Co was above the recommended threshold for grazing ruminants in both dry and wet seasons suggesting that the camels were unlikely to suffer deficiencies with respect to these minerals. For Ca and Mg, the concentration of the minerals in the plasma was above and below the recommended level in dry and wet seasons, respectively. On the other hand, the concentrations of P and Cu in the dry season were lower than the recommended critical level. Plasma concentration for Se and Mo during the dry season was below the recommended level. The seasonal variations in plasma mineral concentration observed in this study were consistent with earlier reports by Faye et al (1995), Judson (1996) and Cuesta et al (1996). Judson (1996) attributed the seasonal variations to changes in forage mineral concentration while McDowell et al (1995) thought the variations resulted from changes in the body requirements of the minerals with seasons.
Plasma mineral concentration below the recommended level in the wet season for Ca, Mg, Se and Mo suggested a higher requirement of the minerals for production (milk, reproduction) during the season in harmony with McDowell et al (1995). On the other hand, plasma mineral concentration below the recommended level in the dry season for P and Cu suggested increased demand for the minerals for maintenance and or enzymatic activities of the body during the season. Plasma mineral concentration below the recommended critical values regardless of the season may further suggest that camels were more likely to suffer deficiencies at such times. Ordinarily, the body strives to maintain the level of various minerals in the blood through homeostasis, mobilizing from the reserves but there have been reports of clinical mineral deficiencies in camels (Faye et al 1992, Faye and Bengoumi 1994, Liu et al 1994, Abu Damir 1998). The seasonal variation in the plasma mineral concentration has management implication in the sense that it would be beneficial to supplement the camels at times/seasons when plasma concentration of the minerals in question is lower than the recommended level (Alia et al 2007).
Tables 4 and 5 shows how the plasma mineral concentration varied from one study site to the other.
|
Table 4: Comparison of the plasma mineral concentration (ppm) (LS mean ± SE) for macro elements between Wajir east, Wajir north and Garissa |
|||||
|
|
Potassium |
Sodium |
Phosphorus |
Calcium |
Magnesium |
|
Wajir East |
603±134 |
3411±602 |
31.2±2.7 |
41.3±8.4 |
85.0±5.2 |
|
Wajir North |
677±134 |
3829±603 |
28.8±2.7 |
39.9±7.2 |
89.0±5.0 |
|
Garissa |
689±145 |
3453±649 |
30.6±3.0 |
93.0±44 |
72.0±5.5 |
|
Critical |
151.3 |
3837 |
48.1 |
92.8 |
26.0 |
|
|
|||||
|
Table 5: Comparison of the plasma mineral concentration (ppm) (LS mean ± SE) for micro elements between Wajir east, Wajir north and Garissa |
||||||
|
|
Zinc |
Copper |
Cobalt |
Selenium |
Chromium |
Molybdenum |
|
Wajir East |
1.2±0.5 |
1.3±0.1 |
0.4±0.1 |
nd |
0.004±0.002 |
0.02±0.01 |
|
Wajir North |
1.4±0.4 |
1.0±0.1 |
0.3±0.1 |
nd |
0.004±0.002 |
0.02±0.01 |
|
Garissa |
1.2±0.5 |
0.4±0.1 |
0.5±0.1 |
nd |
0.004±0.002 |
0.02±0.01 |
|
Critical |
0.91 |
0.82 |
0.08 |
0.23 |
|
0.48 |
|
nd Not determined |
||||||
There were no differences between sites for mineral elements. Onjoro et al (2004) had reported significant differences in Ca and Co between Laikipia and Isiolo sites in Kenya but insignificant differences in P, Mg and Cu in agreement with findings of the current study. Plasma Ca concentration for Garissa camels tended to be higher than for Wajir north and Wajir east. The concentration of Ca, P, Mg, Co and Cu registered in the current study were not comparable with those reported by Onjoro et al (2004) in Laikipia and Isiolo. While the levels of Ca, P and Mg reported in this study were much lower than those reported by Onjoro et al (2004) in Isiolo and Laikipia, these authors reported much lower levels of Co and Cu compared to the current study. It is however important to note that Laikipia in particular is totally different from the sites covered in the current study in terms of climate, vegetation and soils which may explain the differences in plasma mineral concentration. While the plasma concentrations of the mineral elements K, Mg, Zn and Co were higher than the recommended critical values in all the three sites, those of Na, P, Ca, Se and Mo were either equal or less than the recommended critical values across the sites.
Comparing the upper with the north eastern Kenya data (Table 6), the upper eastern Kenya had significantly higher (p<0.05) levels of P and Cu during the dry season while in the wet season, upper eastern Kenya was higher in terms of P, Na, Ca, Mg and Fe. The north eastern Kenya had significantly higher levels of K and Mg in the dry and P, Cu, and Co in the wet season, respectively. Further, the north eastern Kenya had higher level of K, and Zn than upper eastern in the wet season although the differences were not significant (p>0.05).
|
Table 6: Comparison between plasma mineral levels (ppm) in the upper and north eastern Kenya |
||||||||
|
|
Dry |
Wet |
||||||
|
Upper Eastern (means) |
North eastern (Means) |
LSD |
s/ns (p<0.05) |
Upper eastern (means) |
North eastern (means) |
LSD |
s/ns (p<0.05) |
|
|
P |
40.39 |
0.78 |
7.35 |
s |
45.1 |
56.9 |
7.4 |
s |
|
Na |
3488 |
4979 |
1683 |
ns |
3267 |
2648 |
1632 |
ns |
|
K |
267 |
910 |
373 |
s |
204 |
403 |
362 |
ns |
|
Ca |
79 |
128 |
113 |
ns |
64 |
0 |
109 |
s |
|
Mg |
60 |
152 |
14 |
s |
72 |
12 |
13.6 |
s |
|
Cu |
0.67 |
0.16 |
0.28 |
s |
0.77 |
1.64 |
0.28 |
s |
|
Zn |
0.77 |
1.40 |
1.27 |
ns |
0.58 |
1.10 |
1.22 |
ns |
|
Co |
0.10 |
0.16 |
0.14 |
ns |
0.10 |
0.60 |
0.14 |
s |
|
Fe |
0.87 |
2.32 |
7.6 |
ns |
0.87 |
0.07 |
7.35 |
ns |
Camels in north eastern Kenya were unlikely to suffer deficiencies with respect to K, Zn and Co as the plasma concentration of these minerals was above the recommended threshold for grazing ruminants in both dry and wet seasons. On the other hand, the camels were at risk of suffering deficiencies of Ca, Mg, Se and Mo during wet season and, P and Cu in the dry season as the plasma concentration of the minerals were below the recommended level during the indicated seasons. Comparing the north and upper eastern Kenya camels, there were indeed significant differences in the type and magnitude of potential mineral deficiencies. This difference implied that if manufacturers were to make a mineral supplement for use in both upper and north eastern Kenya, a compromise formula would be needed otherwise if a formulation was prepared based on the plasma mineral status in the upper eastern camels, it would not work effectively with the north eastern camels and vice versa.
The team wishes to sincerely thank the Director KARI and the coordination unit of the Kenya Arid and Semi Arid Lands Research Project and in particular Dr. David Miano Mwangi for the financial support. The team also treasures the cooperation by camel pastoralists in Garissa and Wajir during the field data collection. The pastoralists unconditionally allowed their camels to be used for the study during the field grazing observations.
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Received 23 April 2013; Accepted 24 July 2013; Published 1 August 2013