Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the thyroid function and growth in 24 crossbred female calves of three to four months of age on dietary supplementation with selenium and iodine. The animals were randomly allocated to four groups (G0, G1, G2and G3) with six animals in each group and were subjected to four dietary treatments as G0 (calf starter), G1 (calf starter + 0.3 ppm Se), G2 (calf starter + 1pm KI) and G3 (calf starter + 0.3ppm Se + 1ppm KI) or a period of 90 days. Blood and serum samples were collected on 0, 30, 60 and 90 days of the experiment. Triiodothyronine (T3) level remained elevated in G1 (0.3 ppm Se) after one month of selenium supplementation and continued till the end of the experiment. Throughout the study, thyroxine (T4) concentration was significantly higher in G2 (1 ppm KI) animals. The results of the study revealed that dietary supplementation of Se (0.3ppm) could improve the thyroid function of crossbred calves after weaning. Supplementation of KI (1ppm) alone or in combination with organic Se (0.3 ppm) did not significantly improve the thyroid function in weaned cross bred female calves.

Keywords : Supra - nutritional supplementation, post weaned calves, thyroid function