ABSTRACf Four groups of 10 ewes each were housed in pens and fed, ad lib., a basal diet of lucerne chaff. A summary of additional treatments. given in the form of feed concentrates, is as follows:-Group 1 : 4 oz of sheep nuts containing added sodium molybdate Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 and calcium sulphate. 4 oz of sheep nuts containing added calcium carbonate. : 4 oz of sheep nuts only. : 16 oz of sheep nuts only. Analyses of feed components showed that copper concentrations were within normal limits. Nevertheless, two sheep in group 4 died from copper poisoning, about 15 months after the start of the experiment. After 14 months mean serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (SGOT) activities for groups 2, 3, and 4 were each greater than those for group 1, the differences in the cases of groups 2 and 4 being statistically significant. By means of li:ver samples taken by biopsy it was found that, over a 14-month period, mean liver copper concentrations (on a dry weight basis) had increased by 228 p.p.m., 798 p.p.m., 769 p.p.m., and 1,210 p.p.m. for groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively, the differences between means for groups 2, 3, or 4 being statistically significant as compared with that for group 1. The differences between the means for group 2 or 3 as compared with that for group 1 were also significant. It was concluded that some dietary factor, probably associated with the concentrate, facilitated excessive storage of copper in liver, and that rate of accumulatioa was greatly reduced when a supplement of molybdate and sulphate was given.
Milk from Romney ewes grazing on molybdate-top-dressed pasture was examined for molybdenum content. When the molybdenum content of the pasture was raised there was a rise in the molybdenum content of the milk. This rise was influenced by the sulphate content of the diet; when the sUlphate was low, molybdenum was secreted in the milk to a greater extent than when sulphate was high. The milk was divided into fractions, and over 80 per cent of the molybdenum was found in the aqueous remainder after fat, casein, and albumin ~ad been removed.
Methods for determining sulphate in plant material and blood are discussed. Modifications of a method based an the formation of methylene blue are described. This method is suitable for routine analysis of large numbers of samples.
Four groups of young sheep were grazed from April to October 1969 on pastures that contained about 5-7 ppm D.M. of copper; pasture molybdenum concentrations were 5-8 ppm D.M. during most of the trial period, but rose rapidly to approximately 20 ppm during August. Group 1 sheep (control) received no experimental treatment; Group 2 received oral supplements of selenium as sodium selenite; Group 3 received a supplement of a copper compound (cuproxoline) given subcutaneously; Group 4 received supplements of both selenium and copper.Except for an apparent weight response to selenium within the period of the trial (although not at its end), and a doubtful effect of selenium in preventing bone fragility in sheep not given copper, no responses to selenium treatments were noted.In the copper-treated sheep mean values for blood haemoglobin and packed-cell volume were significantly higher, and mean serum alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly lower, than corresponding values for sheep not given copper.Of 17 sheep in the non-copper groups, 5 had connective tissue lesions, associated mainly with the humerus. Of 18 sheep in the copper groups, one showed similar lesions.The lesions were characterised by lifting and haemorrhage of the periosteum and of the muscle insertions, and sometimes spontaneous fractures.Over the trial period mean wool weights and body-weight gains for the copper groups were significantly greater than the corresponding values for the groups not given copper.
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