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A note on goitre in lambs grazing rape (Brassica napus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. J. F. Russel
Affiliation:
Hill Farming Research Organisation, Edinburgh 9
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Extract

Forage crops of the genus Brassica are known to contain goitrogens which under certain conditions can cause severe incidences of neonatal mortality in lambs and goitre in older sheep (Shand, 1952; Sinclair and Andrews, 1958, 1959, 1961; Andrews and Sinclair, 1962).

In the course of studies of certain aspects of lamb growth it was noted that lambs grazing rape (Brassica napus) had heavier thyroid glands than comparable lambs grazing grass. Pipes, Premachandra and Turner (1958) found that a degree of hypothyroidism increased the rate of fattening and influenced the carcass quality of cattle, and in view of this and other evidence it was decided to test the hypothesis that changes in the weight of the thyroid glands of lambs grazing rape were associated with changes in the rate of live-weight gain.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1967

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References

REFERENCES

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