*2.5. Statistical Analysis*

All statistical analyses were performed using the GraphPad Prism software (GraphPad Prism version 9.0, GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA), and the differences in plasma mineral concentrations between the dietary treatments after 30, 60, and 90 days of Zn supplementation were evaluated using two-way repeated measures ANOVA with the post hoc Tukey's multiple comparisons test (Supplementary Materials, Table S1). Other parameters were analyzed using one-way ANOVA with the post hoc Tukey's multiple comparison test using dietary treatment as the source of variation and lamb as the experimental unit. Differences between the mean values of the different dietary treatments were considered statistically significant at *p* < 0.05. The values in the tables are the means and the pooled standard errors of the mean (SEM).

Relative bioavailability was estimated based on a single dietary Zn concentration from Zn sources, using zinc sulphate as the standard source, by means of slope ratio comparisons from linear regression [30]. Regressions were calculated based on supplemental Zn level as the independent variable, and differences between Zn sources were determined based on the differences in their respective regression coefficients.
