Phosphorus levels and their effects on growth and intake in female alpacas in the Peruvian Andes

• Autores: Quispe E., Carlos, Ancco G., Edith, Van Saun, Robert, Gómez B., Carlos
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2019
• Institución: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
• Repositorio: Revista UNMSM - Revista de Investigaciones Veterinarias del Perú
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:ojs.csi.unmsm:article/16180
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistasinvestigacion.unmsm.edu.pe/index.php/veterinaria/article/view/16180
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: phosporous; alpaca; growth; intake; weaning; fósforo; alpacas; crecimiento; consumo; destete

The aim of this study was to know the levels of phosphorus and its effects on feed intake and body weight in female alpacas during the breeding season (January-February) and weaning (August-September). In the first phase, serum phosphorus levels were determined in 200 11-13-month-old alpacas, located in four alpaca regions of Peru. P levels were 8.25 ± 1.63, 5.25 ± 1.46, 6.42 ± 1.84 and 4.8 ± 1.61 mg/dl for the regions of Pasco, Junín, Cuzco and Puno, respectively, with significant differences (p<0.05) between regions. P values in one region were below the reference limit (5-11.5 mg/dl) and the another near the lower limit, which could be considered as deficient in P. In the second phase, a controlled experiment was carried out with three concentrations of P in the diet: 0.16% (T1), 0.25% (T2) and 0.34% (T3), using 16 weaned female alpacas per group (7-8 months, 25.25 ± 1.62 kg). The animals received the feeds ad libitum and were housed in individual pens for seven months. Dry matter intake was 0.717±0.82, 0.826±0.82 and 0.967±0.49 kg/animal/day and as a percentage of live weight was 2.07, 2.24 and 2.60 for treatments T1, T2 and T3, respectively. In both cases there were significant differences between treatments (p<0.05). There was a significant reduction in the concentration of P in T1 (5.02±1.11 mg/dl) compared to T2 (11.07±1.79 mg/dl) and T3 (11.45±1.14 mg/dl). It is likely that low dietary phosphorus in T1 may have affected consumption and weight gain in growing alpacas.