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The Response of Cobalt-Deficient Lambs to Orally Administered Vitamin B₁₂

Cornell University²

Abstract

The feeding of 500 mcg. of crystalline vitamin B₁₂ daily for 5 weeks to cobalt-deficient sheep produced as favorable a response in appetite, body weight, and hemoglobin levels as the injection of 500 mcg. of vitamin B₁₂ over a 2-week period. Assuming these responses to be approximately equal, at least 3 percent of the orally administered vitamin must have been absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract.

The oral administration of a feeding supplement that contributed 100 mcg. of vitamin B₁₂ daily was also found to be effective in alleviating cobalt deficiency. However, cobalt analysis of the feeding supplement showed enough cobalt to give a response to cobalt per se.

The feeding of 100 mcg. of crystalline vitamin B₁₂ daily for 8 weeks failed to elicit a response. The results of this experiment demonstrate that cobalt-deficient lambs will recover when fed vitamin B₁₂, but the effective dose is approximately 35 times as much as the parenteral dose.

¹ Present address:—University of Wyoming.

² Department of Animal Husbandry, Ithaca, N. Y.