Calcium and Zinc in Parakeratosis of Swine

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Abstract
The data contained in this paper are a result of two separate experiments involving a total of 10 lots of 10 pigs each. In the first trial the feeding of a ration containing 0.65% calcium and 0.53% phosphorus resulted in good growth; however, a 10% incidence of parakeratosis was noted. The feeding of a ration containing 1.25% calcium and 0.95% phosphorus resulted in very poor growth and a 100% incidence of parakeratosis. In the second trial the feeding of a ration containing 0.51% calcium and 0.61% phosphorus resulted in depressed growth and a 40% incidence of parakeratosis. In addition, rations containing 1.21% calcium and 1.90% calcium both with 0.61% phosphorus resulted in severely depressed growth and a 100% incidence of parakeratosis. In both trials the supplementation of all rations with 50 p.p.m.of zinc (as zinc carbonate) markedly increased growth rate, improved feed efficiency and completely prevented symptoms of parakeratosis. In all cases symptoms of parakeratosis were alleviated by zinc therapy. In the second trial, preliminary studies indicated that dietary zinc increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity. Copyright © . .

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