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Relative Effects of Different Supplemental Magnesium Sources on Apparent Digestibility in Steers

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,^,2 Blacksburg 24061

Abstract

It appears that grass tetany or hypomagnesemic tetany is caused by a deficiency or lowered utilization of magnesium (Blaxter and McGill, 1956; Thomas, 1965). Regardless of the cause of the disturbance, magnesium supplementation appears to be of value in preventing it (Barrentine and Morrison, 1953; Fontenot et al., 1965; Line et al., 1958). Different magnesium supplements have been used, including dolomitic limestone and magnesium oxide. Gerken and Fontenot (1967) found that the supplementation of dolomitic limestone at levels to supply approximately 9 g magnesium per day resulted in a depression in digestibility of the carbohydrate fractions, but feeding magnesium oxide to supply an equivalent amount of magnesium had no effect. The magnesium in dolomitic limestone is in the form of magnesium carbonate.

Research reported here was conducted to study the relative effects of supplementation with magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate and dolomitic limestone on apparent digestibility, in an effort to determine if magnesium carbonate was responsible for the adverse effect of feeding dolomitic limestone on carbohydrate digestibility.

¹ Present address: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506.

² Department of Animal Science.