Factors influencing the concentration of minerals and metabolites in the plasma of cattle

Abstract

One hundred and seventy-seven female Ayrshire cattle from approximately 6 months to 6 years of age were sampled on one occasion to determine the concentrations in plasma of Cu, P, Ca, Mg, Na, K and glucose. Eighty-nine adults, either lactating or dry, were re-sampled 2 months later to estimate concentrations of ketone bodies and free fatty acids. The data were analysed to estimate the contributions of various factors to variation in the concentrations.The combination of age and stage of pregnancy or lactation significantly affected variation in all the constituents although some of this variation was accounted for by milk yield. The concentrations of Cu, Mg, glucose and ketones were significantly affected by milk yield. The presence of ketone bodies in milk (recorded in relation to the first occasion of bleeding only) was associated with a significant increase in the plasma concentrations of Na and Mg and a significant decrease of K and Ca.The herd comprised pairs of genetically related animals. However, the estimates of heritability had large standard errors and only those for P and Ca were significantly positive.

Concentrations of toxic heavy metals and trace elements in raw milk of Simmental and Holstein-Friesian cows from organic farm

“…Others have reported differences in serum Mg, Ca, and P. Wiener (1980) found a difference in blood Cu, Ca, P, and Mg concentrations between Friesian and Jersey cattle. Angus had higher serum Mg than did Hereford cows in a study by Greene et al (1989) and true digestibility of Mg in Angus cows of this herd was higher than that of Hereford.…”

Effect of breed, intake, and carcass composition on the status of several macro and trace minerals of adult beef cattle

“…Accepted March 1, 1995 Cu status of crossbred fat lambs was reported by Littledike and Young (1993). Rowlands et al ( 19 74) and Wiener et al ( 1980) reported variations in plasma Cu of cattle to have a heritable component. In Saskatchewan, Cu deficiency occurs more frequently in Simmental than in other breeds of cattle (Smart, 1984).…”

Factors affecting magnesium concentration from June to March in spring‐calving dairy cows

“…Consistent with this was the report of Rowlands et al (1974) in Britain, where a repeatability of 0.42 was found in calves. The latter authors reported a heritability of 0.21 ± 0.16, Wiener et al (1980) estimated a heritability of 0.61 ± 0.34 in Ayrshire cattle in Scotland, and Morris et al (1990) estimated a heritability of 0.15 Wilson (1981) reported that a large proportion (0.61) of the variance in Mg concentation in a monozygous twin study was associated with twin pairs. These observations together confirm that genetic factors and repeatable cow factors are important in determining Mg variation in dairy cattle.…”