Changes in serum levels of vitamin B12, feed intake, liveweight and hematological parameters in cobalt deficient small east African goats.
Date
1993Author
Mburu, J N
Kamau, J N
Badamana, M S
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Thirty short-horned East African goats were divided into two groups (treatments 1 and 2) consisting of fifteen goats each. All the goats were fed on a cobalt deficient diet containing 0.02 mg Co/kg of dry matter for a period of twenty three weeks. Goats in treatment 1 were supplemented with an oral cobalt chloride drench. Cobalt deficiency developed in goats in treatment 2 after ten weeks when their serum vitamin B12 concentration fell below 200-250 pg/ml. Between the third and the twenty-third weeks of the experiment, the mean serum concentration of vitamin B12 was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in cobalt supplemented (289.6 +/- 40.76 pg/ml) than deficient (142.8 +/- 28.27 pg/ml) goats. Total dry matter intake, intake per metabolic body weight and liveweight changes were not significantly (P > 0.05) different between goats in the two treatments. Although packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, and erythrocyte count were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in cobalt adequate than deficient goats, these blood parameters were within the normal range for goats. It is suggested that although serum vitamin B12 standard for sheep is applied for goats, the latter species is likely to be more resistant to low dietary cobalt intake than sheep.
URI
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8407163http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/30978
Citation
Mburu, J.N, Kamau, J.M & Badamana, M. S(1993). Changes in serum levels of vitamin B12, feed intake, liveweight and hematological parameters in cobalt deficient small east African goats. International journal for vitamin and nutrition research;63(2): 135-9Publisher
Department of Animal Physiology, University of Nairobi
Subject
Africa, EasternAnimals
Body weight
Cobalt deficiency
Cobalt Pharmacology
Eating physiology
Female
Goats
Hematologic tests
Male
Vitamin B 12
Description
Journal article