Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:04:01.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The concentration of minerals in the blood of genetically diverse groups of sheep: I. Copper concentration at different seasons in Blackface, Cheviot, Welsh Mountain and crossbred sheep at pasture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

Gerald Wiener ,
A. C. Field  and
Jean Wood
Gerald Wiener
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Animal Breeding Research Organization, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, 9
A. C. Field
Affiliation:
Moredun Research Institute, Gilmerton, Edinburgh, 9
Jean Wood
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Unit of Statistics, Edinburgh, 8
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The concentration of copper in the blood of more than 300 sheep of a grassland flock was determined on each of five occasions between May 1965 and June 1966. Six breed classes, Scottish Blackface, Cheviot and Welsh Mountain, and the three crosses among these breeds, were involved.

Breeds differed significantly in blood copper concentration with the Blackface having consistently the lowest and the Welsh the highest values. Crossbred sheep showed marked heterosis. Their levels were mostly at or near to the concentration of the parental breed with the higher value. Within breeds there was a positive regression of blood copper level on live weight of ewe.

Ewes which had produced lambs affected by swayback in 1964 had lower levels of copper in their blood than ewes which had produced normal lambs. The difference was significant and most marked in winter.

Ewes which were barren had, subsequently, higher blood copper concentrations than ewes with lambs. Ewes with single lambs had on average slightly higher levels than those with twins (but not significantly so), however, the effect differed among the breeds. Blood copper levels differed significantly on most occasions with the week in which ewes lambed in relation to the date of bleeding. Age of ewe had significant effects on copper concentration only at one bleeding (January 1966).

There was an indication that classes low in copper concentration, notably Blackfaces and mothers of swayback lambs, showed a relatively steeper decline in copper levels during the winter than did other sheep.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , January 1969 , pp. 93 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1969

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council (1965). The Nutrient Requirements of Farm Livestock, No. 2 Ruminants. London: A.R.C.Google Scholar
Allcroft, R., Clegg, F. G. & Uvarov, O. (1959). Prevention of swayback in lambs. Vet. Rec. 71, 884–9.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. (1959–61). Nutritional and metabolic disorders—minerals in relation to disease. Veterinary Annual. Bristol: John Wright and Sons Ltd. 1959, p. 183–193; 1960, p. 168–174; 1961, p. 230–238.Google Scholar
Brown, Nora A. & Hemingway, R. G. (1962). A rapid method for the determination of copper in biological tissues by means of zinc dibenzyldithiocarbamate. Res. vet. Sci. 3, 345–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, E. J. & Barlow, R. M. (1963). Factors influencing the blood and plasma copper levels of sheep in swayback flocks. J. comp. Path. 73, 107–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, J. V. & King, J. W. B. (1955). Genetic control of sodium and potassium concentration in the red blood cells of sheep. Nature, Lond. 176, 171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCosker, P. J. (1968). Observations on blood copper in the sheep. 1. Normal copper status and variations induced by different conditions. Res. vet. Sci. 9, 91–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryley, J. W., Harvey, J. M., Watson, J. W. & Levitt, M. S. (1961). A comparison of the copper status of sheep and cattle grazing a predominantly Paspolum dilatatum pasture in south-eastern Queens-land. Qd J. agric. Sci. 18, 353–66.Google Scholar
Wiener, G. (1966). Genetic and other factors in the occurrence of swayback in sheep. J. comp. Path. 76, 435–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiener, G. (1967). A comparison of the body size, fleece weight and maternal performance of five breeds of sheep kept in one environment. Anim. Prod. 9, 177–95.Google Scholar
Wiener, G. & Field, A. C. (1966). Blood copper-levels in sheep in relation to genetic factors, parity and previous swayback history. Nature, Lond. 209, 835–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiener, G. & Field, A. C. (1968). Copper concentrations in the liver and blood of sheep of different breeds in relation to swayback history. J. comp. Path. (in the Press).Google Scholar