NUTRIENT UTILIZATION AND SERUM ELECTROLYTES IN PACK SAFARI CAMELS

Metabolism trial was conducted on 3 adult male Bikaneri camels which h ad covered approximately 950 km distance in 28 days in camel safari du ring December 93 - January 94. During the trial period these camels ca rried 100 kg pack load and covered 40 km distance daily in 6 hr with 2 hr rest in-between. The nutrient utilization, serum electrolytes (Na, K, Ca and P) and cardinal responses were studied. The average daily n utrient intake was 73.17+/-3.87 g DM, 3.41+/-0.26 g DCP and 0.59+/-0.0 4 MJ ME/kg w(0.75). The camels maintained their body weight and positi ve balance of nitrogen, Na, K, Ca, P and,Mg during the metabolism tria l. The serum Na and Ca decreased significantly whereas, K increased af ter work stress. No change in serum P was observed. Respiratory freque ncy (118.6%), pulse rate (45.2%) and rectal temperature (4.6%) increas ed. The results indicated that the camels could tolerate the work stre ss without any apparent ill effect on health.