Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-bt4hw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T08:39:35.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An investigation into copper deficiency in cattle in the Southern Pennines. I. Identification of suspect areas using geochemical reconnaissance followed by blood copper surveys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

I. Thornton ,
G. F. Kershaw  and
M. K. Davies
I. Thornton
Affiliation:
Applied Geochemistry Research Group, Imperial College, London
G. F. Kershaw
Affiliation:
Veterinary Investigation Centre, West Midland Region, Wolverhampton
M. K. Davies
Affiliation:
Veterinary Surgeon, Leek
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Severe clinical copper deficiency has been recognized for some years on a number of farms within an area of 10 square miles in North Staffordshire. Response to injected copper is good and supplementation is now regular practice. One of the causes would appear to be a dietary excess of molybdenum, confirmed in soil and pasture.

Geochemical reconnaissance in 1965 delineated areas totalling 60 square miles, including the above area, in which molybdenum occurs in above normal concentrations in stream sediments, rocks, soils and pasture. The source of the molybdenum was found to be black marine shales of Carboniferous age. Within the areas the presence of molybdeniferous soils and pasture is related to local variation in geology and parent material and is in particular affected by drift cover.

Blood copper analysis on 350 cattle from 26 herds, excluding those herds in which deficiency was previously recognized, indicated hypocupraemia in 64% within the geochemically denned molybdeniferous area compared to 35 % in nearby control areas. Excluding animals fed minerals, the results were 77 and 37%, respectively. On the whole, deficient animals showed no marked clinical symptoms of hypocuprosis, though unthriftiness and poor fertility are common in the area.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , February 1972 , pp. 157 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Allcroft, R. (1946). Hypocupraemia in cattle. Nature, Lond. 158, 796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allcroft, R. (1957). Some mineral deficiencies and excesses in cattle and sheep in Britain. Proc. 18th Conf. N.Z. Grassld. Assoc. p. 53.Google Scholar
Allcroft, R. & Lewis, G. (1957). Copper nutrition in ruminants. Disorders associated with copper – molybdenum – sulphate content of feeding stuffs. J. Sci. Fd Agric. 8, 596.Google Scholar
Allcroft, R. & Parker, W. H. (1949). Hypocupraemia in dairy cows. Br. J. Nutr. 3, 205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cunningham, I. J. (1946). Copper deficiency in cattle and sheep on peat lands. N.Z. J. Sci. Technol. 27, 381.Google Scholar
Eden, A. & Green, H. H. (1940). The micro determination of copper in biological materials. Biochem. J. 34, 1202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, W. S., Lewis, A. H. & Watson, S. J. (1940). The teart pastures of Somerset. Bull. Jealot's Hill Res. Stn 1.Google Scholar
Field, H. I. (1957). Observation of copper deficiency in East Anglia. Vet. Rec. 69, 788.Google Scholar
Fletcher, W. K. (1968). Geochemical reconnaissance in relation to copper deficiency in livestock in the Southern Pennines and Devon. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Jamieson, S. & Allcroft, R. (1950). Copper pine of calves. Br. J. Nutr. 4, 16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, A. H. (1943). The teart pastures of Somerset. II. Relationship between soil and teartness. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 33, 52.Google Scholar
Morgan, D. E., Clegg, A., Brooksbank, N. H. & McRea, C. T. (1962). The effect of copper glycine injections on the live-weight of suckling beef calves. Anim. Prod. 4, 303.Google Scholar
Thornton, I., Atkinson, W. J., Webb, J. S. & Poole, D. B. R. (1966). Geochemical reconnaissance and bovine hypocuprosis in Co. Limerick, Ireland. Ir. J. agric. Res. 5, 280.Google Scholar
Webb, J. S., Thornton, I. & Fletcher, W. K. (1968). Geochemical reconnaissance and hypocuprosis. Nature, Lond. 217, 1010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar