author(s)
S Usha and TK Mohanty

abstract
The present study reports the seasonal variation of certain plasma mineral profile in normal and delayed sexual maturity Karen Fries crossbred heifers at Livestock Research Centre, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India over a period of one year. Total 160 heifers; eight healthy heifers in each month [24, 16, 32, 24 healthy heifers in rainy, autumn, winter and summer, respectively] and 8 heifers from each group (delayed sexual maturity and low growth rate) per season were selected for the study. There was significant (P£0.05) seasonal variation of plasma macro (Ca and P) and micro (Cu, Zn and Mn) minerals. In delayed sexual maturity and low growth rate heifers mean plasma minerals concentration differed significantly (P£0.05) from healthy heifers and also did not follow a similar pattern. It might be due to change or variation in the fodder other managemental effects. However, alteration of plasma mineral profiles in delayed sexual maturity and low growth rate heifers varied depending on seasons.