Applied Animal Nutrition-I

ENERGY METABOLISM DURING PREGNANCY

• If a pregnant animal is given a constant daily allowance of food, its heat production will rise towards the end of gestation.
• The increase is due mainly to the additional energy required by the foetus for both maintenance and growth.
• It has been found that metabolisable energy taken in by the mother in addition to her own maintenance requirement is utilised by the foetus with comparatively low efficiency.

Estimating nutritional requirements for pregnancy:

• The energy, protein, minerals, vitamins etc required for pregnancy is estimated by the factorial method.
• The nutrient requirements during pregnancy includes :
  • Maintenance requirements of the mother
  • Nutrient for the growth of the mother if she conceived at a young age and has not reached the mature body weight.
  • Nutrients required for the growth of the foetus
  • Nutrients required for the growth of the uterus and products of conception i.e. placental membranes, placental fluid etc
• The nutrients deposited in the tissues during pregnancy are estimated by serial slaughter of the pregnant mothers at different stages of pregnancy and the total nutrients required is estimated by the quantity of the nutrient deposited and the efficiency with which the nutrients in the feed are utilized for tissue synthesis