The Effect of the Prepartum Diet of the Cow on the Vitamin A Reserves of Her Newborn Offspring

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Feeding vit. A at the rate of 1 million U.S.P. units daily to individual dairy cows in the latter stages of gestation significantly increased the vit. A cone, in the blood and the livers of their newborn calves. Pasture grazing, which provided an abundance of carotene in the prepartum diet of the dams, failed to effect an increase in vit. A over that seen in calves from dams restricted to a standard winter ration. It is suggested that the placental membrane is more permeable to the ester than to the alcohol form of vit. A.