ILL-THRIFT IN LAMBS

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28268, 4 May 1957, Page 9

ILL-THRIFT IN LAMBS

DEFICIENCY OF COBALT

A MID-CANTERBURY FARMER’S VIEW

An interesting contribution to the discussion on cobalt deficiency is to hand from Mr R. H. Bell, of Greenstreet, Ashburton. In a letter to the agricultural editor of “The Press” written last month Mr Bell, in giving his personal experience, says that for a period of three years he had suspected cobalt deficiency, as his lambs had steadily become worse, and their symptoms were consistent with what he could find written on the shortage of cobalt. In conjunction with the Ashburton Veterinary Club, he had been slaughtering lambs and sending their livers to Wallaceville for research. In every instance, the report returned showed no deficiency. This spring, in desperation, he had three of his paddocks soiltested only to find that in each case there was a very marked shortage of cobalt., Impact of Trace Elements “I then took the three paddocks, side by side,” writes Mr Bell, “and treated the two outer paddocks, leaving the middle one as a control paddock. All pastures were of the same mixture. These three paddocks were set-stocked at 7 ewes to the acre. From the first paddock of 65 lambs, 52 went off their mothers, from the untreated paddock three off their mothers, and all the lambs were scouring and poor, the number in this paddock being 68. From the third paddock 58 lambs went off their mothers from a mob of 73.

“This year I had a draft of 205 lambs at an average of 31.41 b, out of a line oj 558 lambs, whereas in the past four seasons I had only managed to get 50 to 60 away off their mothers, and I am firmly convinced, that if I had treated all my pastures with cobalt and magnesium I could have had over 400 away in the first draft. “To further check on this cobalt angle, in conjunction with the Ashburton Veterinary Club, we took 40 of the worst lambs in the flocks, divided them into two lots, marked them differently and weighed both lines individually. One half were treated with cobalt every week for six weeks, and at the tend of seven and a half weeks both lots were again weighed under the supervision of the club. The treated lambs weighed 6.81 b a head more than the untreated ones which were not run on cobalt treated pastures as they were culls from the flock. The results were most spectacular. “It would appear that there is most definitely something wrong with modern research, which is not prepared to admit a cobalt deficiency. “At the same time I must admit that I have also suffered from illthrift in the lambs, as it is so called. But, in all fairness, these lambs were not running on cobalt-treated pastures, as the treated paddocks had been closed for clover seed. Once my drenching trial was concluded the results were so marked that I treated the balance of my pastures and within two weeks my losses ceased.” Department’s Attitude In a further letter to the Agricultural Editor Mr Bell writes, inter alia: “Since writing to you I have endeavoured to get the Ashburton branch of the Department of Agriculture to take pasture samples from all my paddocks, but they tell me that they do not provide that service. It would thus appear that it is time that they were either willing to recognise another organisation or provide the service themselves, as some of the results from cobalt and other trace elements this year have been astounding.” The last portion of Mr Bell’s letter was referred to the officer in charge of the Department of Agriculture, Ashburton, who replied as follows: “The analyses of pasture for trace elements is not part of the department’s soil testing service. On occasions when a specific problem has arisen tests have been carried out.” LIGHT AIDS LAYING Artificial lighting with drymasb feeding greatly increases egg production by poultry. This has been clearly shown in the egg laying trials of prospective poultry breeding stock conducted by the Department of Agriculture at its poultry demonstration plant at Upper Hutt. In the first six trials held between 1949 and 1955, the average egg production for heavy breeds was 171.5; in the last two trials, when artificial lighting with dry-mash feeding was used, the average egg production was 198.05. The corresponding figures for light breeds were 153.05 and 190.75. Heavy breeds had a marked superiority over light breeds when artificial lighting was not used. This superiority was reduced considerably during the last two trials, in which lighting was used.