Detection of levels of zinc, iron, copper, trace elements and lead, cadmium in sheep grown in Trakya, a part of Marmara region in Turkey

Abstract

This study realised in Trakya, a part of Marmara Region which is one of the seven different regions in Turkey, is aimed to detect the levels of trace elements as copper, iron, zinc and cadmium and lead in the organism in order to obtain more efficient economical results and healthier sheep breeds. At the beginning, Trakya Region was divided into 5 different districts and 30-50 sheep were chosen from each district and a total of 200 sheep were used in this study. Serum analyses showed a few decreases in the iron levels in the 2nd and 4th districts and the lowest zinc level was found in the 1st district. While the lowest copper level existed in the 3rd district, the highest lead level in the 2nd district, and finally the highest cadmium level was in the 5th district. As a result, we found that it is necessary to add these trace elements in the diet of the animals and considerable attachments of trace elements with lead and cadmium in order to apply an efficient prophylactic and therapeutic program. Also, the necessity of a similar study for the water, plant and soil samples in the region and the detection of correlation between them are revealed.

Keywords

• sheep
• trace elements
• nutrition