Cabbage poisoning in ruminants.

A complaint of poor productivity was investigated in a herd of Jersey cattle and a small flock of Dorper sheep that had been fed cabbage for 5 to 6 months per year, over a number of years. During that time a number of lambs were lost as a result of swayback, some cows aborted, milk production was down, and although the farmer was an experienced inseminator, the conception rate in the Jerseys was low. After rectal examination and consulting the records, 26% of the cows were found to have been open for more than 150 d and 28% had been inseminated more than 3 times. The body condition of the cows ranged from poor to moderate, the hair coats were dull and some cows were anaemia. The young lambs had visibly enlarged thyroids. Haematological investigations revealed a typical Heinz body type haemolytic anaemic. In the cattle the anaemia appeared to be macrocytic, hypochromic and associated with thrombocytosis, while in the sheep it seemed to be normochromic and slightly microcytic. Plasma copper concentrations were severely depressed in all cases. Most thyroxine concentrations were within the normal range, although some were on the low side. Analysis of cabbage revealed a high sulphur content and marginally low copper and zinc levels. The main factor in cabbage which is responsible for poor animal performance, is the high sulphur content. High levels of this mineral exert detrimental effects, in order of priority, by elevating s-methyl cystine sulphoxide, diminishing the availability of copper and raising the glucosinolate content of the plant.

The effect of the laparoscopic insemination technique on the oestrous cycle of the ewe.

This investigation was designed to determine whether or not the technique of intrauterine insemination affects the length of the subsequent oestrous cycle. Dorper ewes (n = 31) were divided into treatment and control groups. All the ewes were synchronised using 40 mg fluorogestone acetate intravaginal sponges for 14 d and 300 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin on the day of sponge removal. A standard semen diluent was deposited laparoscopically in each uterine horn of ewes in the treatment group. Teaser rams were used to detect oestrus. Progesterone profiles were used to confirm oestrus. The mean oestrous cycle length of 17.83 +/- 0.69 d for the group in which the diluent was deposited by laparoscopy did not differ significantly (P less than 0.1) from the 18.36 +/- 2.11 d of the control group. The technique of laparoscopic insemination did not influence the length of subsequent oestrous cycles.