The efficacy of supplying supplemental cobalt, selenium and vitamin B 12 via the oral drench route in sheep, Livestock Science, http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.livsci.2017.04.010 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of cobalt plus/minus vitamin B 12 and selenium supplementation from oral drenching over a 13 day time period.Seven groups of grass silage fed Suffolk cross mule lambs (n=56) were randomly allocated to one of 7 treatments, a 5 ml oral drench containing 700, 2300, 12000 mg Co/l, with or without 2300 mg vitamin B 12 /l in a factoral design, with an additional control group which received no drench. All drenches also contained selenium at 625 mg/l. Lambs were weighed on days 0 and 13. The lambs were sampled by jugular venepuncture on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13, with samples analysed for plasma selenium and cobalt by ICP-MS, erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase by colourimetric assay and vitamin B 12 by immunoassay.The results showed that cobalt via a drench was able to raise plasma cobalt in a dose dependent manner, with each dose level significantly higher than the previous level at all post drenching time points (P<0.05). However, the cobalt containing drenches did not significantly raise vitamin B 12 concentrations in the plasma. Vitamin B 12 containing drenches were able to elevate vitamin B 12 in the plasma for a period of 7 days (P<0.05). The selenium content of the drench was able to significantly raise the plasma selenium from day 1 throughout the rest of the trial (day 13) (P<0.001). A significant increase in erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity of the sheep did eventually occur at day 13 (P<0.05).In summary, the addition of vitamin B 12 via the drench route resulted in a short term elevation (7 days) of plasma vitamin B 12 concentrations whereas cobalt sulphate alone was unable to significantly raise vitamin B 12 concentrations within this trial with marginally adequate cobalt status, despite elevating plasma cobalt concentrations.The drench route was also able to elevate plasma selenium concentrations from a marginal selenium status.