Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T18:55:18.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Studies on lambs from lines genetically selected for low and high copper status 2. Incidence of hypocuprosis on improved hill pasture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. A. Woolliams ,
Carol Woolliams ,
N. F. Suttle ,
D. G. Jones  and
G. Wiener
J. A. Woolliams
Affiliation:
AFRC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Carol Woolliams
Affiliation:
AFRC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
N. F. Suttle
Affiliation:
AFRC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
D. G. Jones
Affiliation:
AFRC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
G. Wiener
Affiliation:
AFRC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Get access

Abstract

Growth rate and the concentrations of various biochemical constituents were measured in 2 years in lambs from two lines, selected on low (L) and high (H) copper (Cu) concentrations in plasma, and from two unselected pure breeds, Scottish Blackface (B) and Welsh Mountain (W). The lambs grazed improved hill pastures and half were given Cu supplements.

H lambs were always heavier and were fattened for slaughter earlier than were L lambs, differences that were not completely eliminated when supplementary Cu was given. In both years, the improvements in growth rate due to supplementary Cu varied with genetic type (average L 20·5 (s.e. 2·5); H 5·7 (s.e. 2·6); B 25·1 (s.e. 3·7); W 8·1 (s.e. 3·3) g/day). Growth rates of supplemented lambs were L 100 (s.e. 2), H 104 (s.e. 2), B 134 (s.e. 5), W 103 (s.e. 3) g/day.

At 6 weeks of age, unsupplemented lambs trom all genetic types were hypocupraemic and, at all ages, unsupplemented L and B lambs had lower concentrations of Cu in plasma and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity than had unsupplemented H and W lambs. Supplemented lambs always had greater concentrations of Cu in plasma and SOD activities than had their unsupplemented counterparts. Supplementation increased the haemoglobin concentration for B (in year 2) and L lambs but not for H and W lambs. Cholesterol concentrations in plasma were unaffected by selection but were slightly higher in unsupplemented lambs. The concentration of total protein and the activity of aspartate transaminase were unaffected by genotype or Cu supplementation. In the liver of lambs at slaughter, the concentration of Cu was lower for unsupplemented lambs and inversely related to the concentration of iron.

It was concluded that (i) genotype was an important determinant of hypocuprosis; (ii) the degree of hypocuprosis could not be predicted from herbage analyses alone, but instead may be predicted from biochemical assessment of the lamb; and (iii) the dose of Cu supplement used was inadequate for L and B lambs and recommended levels could be increased, within limits, without risk of toxicity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , October 1986 , pp. 303 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1986

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. 1980. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Bennetts, H. W. and Beck, A. B. 1942. Enzootic ataxia and copper deficiency of sheep in Western Australia. Bulletin, Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, No. 147.Google Scholar
Bingley, J. B. and CARRILLO, B. J. 1966. Hypocuprosis of cattle in the Argentine. Nature, London 209: 834–835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, N. L., Keen, C. L., Lonnerdal, B. and Hurley, L. S. 1985. Effects of varying dietary iron on the expression of copper deficiency in the growing rat: anemia, ferroxidase I and II, tissue trace elements, ascorbic acid, and xanthine dehydrogenase. Journal of Nutrition 115: 633–649.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hogan, K. G., Money, D. F. L., White, D. A. and Walker, R. 1971. Weight responses of young sheep to copper, and connective tissue lesions associated with the grazing of pastures of high molybdenum content. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 14: 687–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, D. G. and Suttle, N. F. 1981. Some effects of copper deficiency on leucocyte function in sheep and cattle. Research in Veterinary Science 31: 151–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klevay, L. M., Inman, L., Johnson, L. K., Lawler, M., Mahalko, J. R., Milne, D. B., Lukaski, H. C., Bolonchuk, W. and Sandstead, H. H. 1984. Increased cholesterol in plasma in a young man during experimental copper depletion. Metabolism 33: 1112–1118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, C. F. 1980. Chairman's report. In Biological Roles of Copper (ed. Evered, D. and Lawrenson, G.), Ciba Foundation Symposium No. 79, p. 49. Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam.Google ScholarPubMed
Mills, C. F., Dalgarno, A. C. and Wenham, G. 1976. Biochemical and pathological changes in tissues of Friesian cattle during the experimental induction of copper deficiency. British Journal of Nutrition 35: 309–331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillippo, M. 1983. The role of dose-response trials in predicting trace element deficiency disorders. In Trace Elements in Animal Production and Veterinary Practice (ed. Suttle, N. F., Gunn, R. G., Allen, W. M., Linklater, K. A. and Wiener, G.), Occasional Publication of the British Society of Animal Production No. 7, pp. 51–59.Google Scholar
Suttle, N. F. 1977. Reducing the potential copper toxicity of concentrates to sheep by the use of molybdenum and sulphur supplements. Animal Feed Science and Technology 2: 235–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suttle, N. F. 1981a. Effectiveness of orally administered cupric oxide needles in alleviating hypocupraemia in sheep and cattle. Veterinary Record 108: 417–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suttle, N. F. 1981b. Comparison between parenterally administered copper complexes of their ability to alleviate hypocupraemia in sheep and cattle. Veterinary Record 109: 304–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suttle, N. F., Jones, D. G., Woolliams, J. A., Woolliams, C. and Wiener, G. 1984. Growth responses to copper and selenium in lambs of different breeds on improved hill pastures. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 43: 103A (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Suttle, N. F. and McLauchlan, M. 1976. Predicting the effects of dietary molybdenum and sulphur on the availability of copper to ruminants. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 35: 22A–23A (Abstr.).Google ScholarPubMed
Suttle, N. F. and McMurray, C. H. 1983. Use of erythrocyte copper: zinc superoxide dismutase activity and hair or fleece copper concentrations in the diagnosis of hypocuprosis in ruminants. Research in Veterinary Science 35: 47–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, R. H. and Blanchflower, W. J. 1971. Wetashing apparatus to prepare biological materials for atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Laboratory Practice 20: 859–861.Google ScholarPubMed
Van Kampen, D. J. and Zijlstra, W. G. 1961. Standardization of haemoglobinometry. II. The hemiglobtncyanide method. Clinica Chimica Ada 6: 538–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitelaw, A., Armstrong, R. H., Evans, C. C. and Fawcett, A. R. 1979. A study of the effects of copper deficiency in Scottish Blackface lambs on improved hill pasture. Veterinary Record 104: 455–460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitelaw, A., Russel, A. J. F., Armstrong, R. H., Evans, C. C., Fawcett, A. R. and Macdonald, A. J. 1983. Use of cupric oxide needles in the prophylaxis of induced copper deficiency in lambs grazing improved hill pastures. Veterinary Record 112: 382–384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiener, G., Suttle, N. F., Field, A. C., Herbert, J. G. and Woolliams, J. A. 1978. Breed differences in copper metabolism in sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91: 433–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiener, G., Woolliams, J. A., Suttle, N. F. and Jones, D. 1985a. Genetic selection for Cu status in the sheep and its consequences for performance. Proceedings of 5th International Symposium on Trace Elements Metabolism in Man and Animals, Aberdeen, p. 193–196. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Wiener, G., Woolliams, J. A., Woolliams, C. and Field, A. C. 1985b. Genetic selection to produce lines of sheep differing in plasma copper concentrations. Animal Production 40: 465–473.Google Scholar
Williams, D. M., Loukopoulos, D., Lee, G. R. and Cartwright, G. E. 1976. Role of copper in mitochondrial iron metabolism. Blood 48: 77–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woolliams, C., Suttle, N. F., Woolliams, J. A., Jones, D. G. and Wiener, G. 1986. Studies on lambs from lines genetically selected for low and high copper status. 1. Differences in mortality. Animal Production 43: 293–301.Google Scholar
Woolliams, J. A., Suttle, N. F., Wiener, G., Field, A. C. and Woolliams, C. 1982. The effect of breed of sire on the accumulation of copper in lambs with particular reference to copper toxicity. Animal Production 35: 299–307.Google Scholar
Woolliams, J. A., Wiener, G., Woolliams, C. and Suttle, N. F. 1985. Retention of copper in the liver of sheep genetically selected for high and for low concentrations of copper in plasma. Animal Production 41: 219–226.Google Scholar