%0 Journal Article
%T An integrated approach towards the nutritional assessment of the Sardinian donkey: a tool for clinical nutritionists
%A Maria Grazia Cappai
%A Maurizio Picciau
%A Walter Pinna
%J Italian Journal of Animal Science
%D 2013
%I PAGEPress Publications
%R 10.4081/ijas.2013.e29
%X The aims of the current study were to establish: i) a species-specific approach for nutritional assessment during clinical checks on Sarda breed adult donkeys, and ii) a suitable equation for body weight prediction, which at present is lacking. A total of 18 adult donkeys were sampled and the following criteria were recorded: body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), muscular mass index (MMI), along with somatometric measures (height at withers; chest girth) and metabolic profiles of each individual. The species-specific nutritional assessment based on the integrated approach turned out to correlate significantly (P<0.05) with the body condition score and levels of Na, P and cholesterol in blood. The parametric equation for predicting the BW (y=0.353a+0.443b-7.62, where a= height at withers in cm; b= chest girth in cm) closely fit the determined BW, with a standard error of SE=¡À5 kg BW.
%K Donkey
%K Nutritional assessment
%K Body condition score
%K Metabolic profile
%K Predictive equation
%U http://www.aspajournal.it/index.php/ijas/article/view/2772