Studies on copper and cobalt in dairy calves

Studies on the effect of supplementing copper or cobalt alone and copper/cobalt combination were performed in weaned dairy calves during two periods of experimentation vis: indoor feeding on conserved forges and outdoor grazing on fresh pastures. Thirty two animals aged between 4-10 months were allocated to four treatments with respect to their live weights in a received block experiment. It was observed that the animals did not differ significantly in their live weight gains or warm copper during the indoor period which lasted for 45 days. Neither hemoglobin concentration nor packed cell volume were significantly affected by the different treatments throughout the experimental period of 115 days. Significant differences (P<0.05) in live weight gains and serum concentration were noted during the grazing period of 70 days. Animals supplemented with a combination of copper and cobalt gained most weigh followed by animals supplemented with copper alone. Blood scrum copper was also significantly (P<0.05) elevated and maintained at normal levels in the two groups treated with copper while the non-treated animals had lower levels.