Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2009
The blood ketone body response to butyrate (2-5mM. butyrate/kg.) and glucose tolerance (1.25 mM. glucose/kg.) were studied in lambs as a function of age. Ketonemias produced by butyrate increased with age. This finding is compatible with an increased mass of ketone body synthesizing tissue, and by an increased activity per unit of tissue weight. In the period shortly after birth, blood glucose levels and glucose tolerance were high, but both of these measurements declined with increasing age and associated development of rumen function.