Occurrence of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Dairy Calves at Birth and Its Alleviation by Iron Dextran Injection

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Abstract
In a series of experiments, conducted during 1959-61, involving over 170 calves, the problem of neonatal anemia was studied. When the calves were divided into 3 groups bases on their initial oxyhemoglobin values (low - less than 9 g/100 ml, medium - 9-10.5 g/100 ml, and high - over 10.5 g/100 ml), no relation existed between the average oxyhemoglobin level of the calves at birth and their dams post-partum. In addition to the oxyhemoglobin values, packed cell volume, erythrocyte counts, serum iron content, and liver iron content all indicated that the calves born anemic were deficient in iron at birth. Calves given a single injection of 500 mg of iron (10 ml of Armidexan - 50 mg Fe/ml) during the first 3 days maintained a high level of serum iron and did not decline in oxyhemoglobin during the first 8 wk, as did controls in the high group. From the evidence obtained it was concluded that the low oxyhemoglobin in the newborn calves was the result of iron deficiency of prenatal origin.