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The Effect of Vitamin Supplements upon Survival of New-Born Calves^*

Department of Biochemistry, College of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin, Madison

ABSTRACT

A study of the effect of vitamin supplements upon survival of new-born calves fed a skim milk basal ration from birth has been made. It appears that under these conditions new-born calves require vitamin A in excess of 10,000 I.U. per day when severe diarrhea and ability to survive were used as the criteria for establishing approximate requirements. Twenty-five thousand I.U. of vitamin A per day in the form of fish-liver oil concentrate greatly enhanced the chance of survival of calves fed the skim milk ration. In the presence of adequate vitamin A ingestion the favorable supplementary effect of niacin was found to be negligible. The blood-plasma vitamin A concentration followed previous observations, i.e., on the average the new-born calf has a very low blood plasma vitamin A level and that normal concentrations in the neighborhood of 9–10 'g./100 ml. or more must be quickly attained (1–2 days) for a favorable chance of survival.

^* Published with the approval of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station.

This investigation was supported in part by Merck and Company, Rahway, New Jersey. We are indebted to the Blatchford Calf Meal Co. of Waukegan, Illinois, for funds to purchase the calves used in these experiments.

¹ Now at the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College.