Estimation of inevitable macro mineral losses in amazons (Amazona spp.) as basis for the calculation of maintenance requirement.

To determine the endogenous losses of macro minerals via excrements, adult amazons (Amazona spp., n=5) were fed a purified diet supplemented with vitamins, trace elements and amino acids according to recommendations for poultry, but almost free of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium and potassium. The diet was offered ad libitum for nine days and was compared to mineral excretion when fed a commercial seed mixture. Daily dry matter (DM) intake was 22.2 g DM/bird (16.3 MJ ME/kg DM) compared to 8.18 g DM/bird when offered a commercial seed mixture (20.0 MJ ME/kg DM). Daily amounts of excreta corresponded to the physiological amounts of this species (5.2 g DM/bird). The digestibility of organic matter was similar for the purified diet and seeds (75% and 77%, respectively). Inevitable losses of major elements reached a basal level latest after five days and amounted to 10.6 mg calcium, 2.9 mg phosphorus, 1.3 mg magnesium, 1.7 mg sodium and 10.8 mg potassium (values per kg BW(0.75)). Feeding a diet almost free of major elements resulted in a decrease in blood content for magnesium (24.4%), potassium (21.8%) and sodium (4.5%), whereas the calcium and phosphorus content in plasma stayed constant or did not show unidirectional changes in all animals.