EFFECT OF ORAL VITAMIN A, INJECTABLE VITAMIN A AND TRANIMAL (A TRANQUILIZER)ON THE PERFORMANCE OF STEER CALVES 1/
Research Progress Report 88
November, 1963 Final
W. M. Beeson, T. W. Perry, W. H. Smith and M. T. Mohler, Animal Sciences Department 2/
Summary
Supplementing the ration with 20, 000 I.U. of vitamin A per steer daily caused a 16 to 18 percent increase in daily gain (P< .05) and an 8 to 11 percent improvement in feed efficiency (Table 1). Injecting either 1 million or 6 million I.U. of vitamin A intramuscularly increased gain 11 to 14 percent and improved feed efficiency 6 to 9 percent. The response in gain and feed efficiency was more consistent and significant among the steers fed oral vitamin A than the steers injected with vitamin A.
Injection of either 1 million or 6 million I.U. of vitamin A in combination with 20, 000 I.U. of vitamin A orally did not cause any significant improvement in gain or feed efficiency over feeding 20, 000 I.U. of vitamin A alone.
Blood serum and liver values (Tables 3 and 4) indicate that the control lots and the steers injected with 1 million I.U. of vitamin A are deficient in vitamin A. Normal blood serum and liver vitamin A values were maintained by either feeding 20, 000 I.U. of vitamin A daily or injecting with 6 million I.U. of vitamin A intramuscularly. An injection of 6 million I.U. of vitamin A intramuscular-
ly will furnish sufficient vitamin A storage to last about 210 days. Feeding 20, 000 I.U. of vitamin A resulted in lower carotene blood values, but injectable vitamin A caused no significant change in blood carotene values. Usually carotene values in the blood are higher when steers are not receiving adequate vitamin A. A combination of oral vitamin A and injectable vitamin A resulted in higher vitamin A storage in the liver than either treatment singly.
Tranimal (a tranquilizer) fed at the rate of 30 mg. daily did not result in any significant change in daily gain or feed efficiency (Table 2). Feeding Tranimal caused a highly significant decrease in the vitamin A level in the blood serum and carotene in the liver.
There were no significant differences in carcass grade or dressing percentage due to the various vitamin A treatments, but the trend was toward higher carcass grades for the steers receiving vitamin A.
Vitamin A in Blood Serum (Table 7)
Feeding 20, 000 I.U. of vitamin A per steer daily increased the vitamin A in the blood serum more and to a higher level than
1/ This research was supported in part by a research grant from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Nutley, New Jersey. Oral vitamin A, injectable vitamin A and Tranimal were furnished through the courtesy of J. C. Bauernfeind and C. R. Adams, Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Nutley, New Jersey.
2/ Appreciation is expressed to R. B. Harrington and Margaret Thompson for the statistical analysis of these data.
PURDUE UNIVERSITY • Agricultural Experiment Station • Lafayette, Indiana