ANN 121: Applied Animal Nutrition-I (2+1)

MAMMARY DEVELOPMENT

Mammary development takes place throughout pregnancy, but it is only in the later stages that it proceeds rapidly enough to make appreciable nutrient demands. Even then the quantities of nutrients laid down in the gland are quite small. In the heifer, for example, it has been shown by the analysis of animals slaughtered at various intervals during pregnancy that even in the last two weeks, i.e. when mammary growth is proceeding at its fastest rate the quantity of protein deposited daily is more than 45 g.