Vitamin B 12 responses to cobalt pellets in beef cows

Objective To assess the effectiveness of cobalt pellets in maintaining adequate vitamin B 12 in beef cows on pasture of low cobalt content. Design A field experiment in a herd grazing cobalt deficient pasture. Animals Mature Murray Grey cows. Procedure Cows were given a single oral dose of 0, 1, 2 o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAustralian veterinary journal Vol. 75; no. 9; pp. 660 - 662
Main Authors JUDSON, GJ, McFARLANE, JD, MITSIOULIS, A., ZVIEDRANS, P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.09.1997
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Summary:Objective To assess the effectiveness of cobalt pellets in maintaining adequate vitamin B 12 in beef cows on pasture of low cobalt content. Design A field experiment in a herd grazing cobalt deficient pasture. Animals Mature Murray Grey cows. Procedure Cows were given a single oral dose of 0, 1, 2 or 4 cobalt pellets (30 g pellets containing 30% by weight cobaltic oxide) with a selenium pellet and a grub screw. Samples of blood, liver, faeces and milk for chemical analyses were collected at intervals over a period of 2 years after treatment. Results A single cobalt pellet raised liver vitamin B 12 concentration of cows above that of untreated cows for at least 28 weeks, and 2 or 4 pellets for 57 weeks. Plasma vitamin B 12 concentration was an unreliable indicator of the effectiveness of cobalt pellet therapy. Milk vitamin B 12 and faecal cobalt concentrations increased in response to cobalt pellet therapy. Conclusion These studies show that one cobalt pellet will prevent vitamin B 12 inadequacy in beef cows for between 28 and 57 weeks; two or four pellets will prevent inadequacy for 57 to 75 weeks. Milk vitamin B 12 concentration may be a useful indicator of the effectiveness of cobalt pellets in increasing the vitamin B 12 supply in lactating cows.
ISSN:0005-0423
1751-0813
DOI:10.1111/j.1751-0813.1997.tb15365.x