HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wise, G. H. Articles by Hughes, J. S. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Wise, G. H. Articles by Hughes, J. S.

Relation of Typical Postnatal Changes in the Diet of the Dairy Calf to the Concentration of Carotenoids and Vitamin A in the Blood Serum¹

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station

Abstract

The concentrations of carotenoids and of vitamin A in the blood serum of calves, subjected to standard herd dietary and managerial practices, from birth to ten weeks of age were closely related to the changes in the types of feeds consumed.

Though there was a marked degree of variability in the concentrations of carotenoids and of vitamin A in the blood serum of individuals of the group, the general trends in the levels of these constituents in each calf were similar.

Colostrum ingested at the rate of one pound per ten pounds of body weight daily effected a striking increase of carotenoids and of vitamin A in the blood of the new-born calf.

Whole milk fed to the calves at the same rate as the colostrum, to a maximum of 12 pounds daily, even when produced by cows receiving high quality roughage including some pasture herbage, did not provide sufficient vitamin A activity to prevent a continuous decline in the concentration of carotenoids and of vitamin A in blood serum to levels in the deficiency range.

Though good quality hay was accessible to the calves after two weeks of age, they were six weeks of age before the intake of carotenoids from this source was sufficient to increase the carotenoid and the vitamin A content of the blood.

The marked reduction of these constituents in the blood during the interim between colostrum ingestion and effective hay consumption indicated a need for vitamin A supplementation during this period and further emphasized the importance of feeding palatable hay high in carotene.

¹ Contribution No. 167, Department of Dairy Husbandry, and No. 331, Department of Chemistry, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, Kansas.

² Present Address, Department of Animal Husbandry, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa.

³ Now with Moorman Mfg. Co., Quincy, 111.