An assessment of the effects of ruminal selenium pellets given to young sheep grazing selenium-deficient pastures

Abstract

Extract

The ability of a heavy pellet containing cobaltic oxide to release cobalt when lodged in the reticulo-rumen of the sheep was first described by Dewey et al. (1958). However, investigation has shown that, at least in some situations, treatment with cobaltic oxide pellets may have two disadvantages. First, pellets may acquire a deposit of calcium phosphate, thus tending to seal the pellet off from the, reticulo-rumen environment (Andrews et al., 1958; Dewey et al., 1958; Millar and Andrews, 1964). Secondly, some sheep may eventually lose their pellets by regurgitation (Millar and Andrews, 1964).