Relationships between the iron content of the ration and the rise of the effects of zinc deficiency in dairy cows

By Bonomi, A. and Mazzotti, A. and Quarantelli, A. and Sabbioni, A. and Superchi, P., Rivista di Scienza dell'Alimentazione, 1994
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Description
The Authors refer the results obtained after researches carried out in three farms with the aim to verify the relationships between high iron levels in the ration and the rise of the signs of zinc deficiency in daily cows. Ninety Italian Fresian dairy cows were fed with rations containing a normal rate of zinc (50 p.p.m.) and iron levels of 100 (control groups), 200, 300 and 400 p.p.m. In correspondence of the iron level of 400 p.p.m., the cows showed a secondary zinc deficiency with a drop of plasma zinc content (from 102 to 70 mu-g/100 ml), with the rise of lesions in the soft tissues of foot (digital and interdigital dermatitis, interdigital hyperplasia) in a high percentage (40%), with a reduced reproductive efficiency (2.23 services per conception is 1.82 of the control groups), with a drop in milk, production (- 6%) and with a rise (50%) of the incidence of the most frequent diseases (mastitis, ovarian cysts, metritis, silent estrus). The supply of the cows affected by the foot syndrome with zinc carbonate (2 grams/head/day) has favorably conditioned the recovery and the restitutio ad integrum of tissues in a shorter (P lt .05) time than control groups (25 vs 56 days)
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