Requirement of the Pig for Vitamin B12

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Abstract
Young pigs were reared on a synthetic diet and given intramuscular injections of vitamin B12. There was no definite response until the pigs were 6 weeks old. After that time they grew at an unusually rapid rate. One of the control pigs died. Another became emaciated and developed an abnormal appetite, followed by mild lesions of the skin. After the injection of 25 µg of vitamin B12 she recovered rapidly. The third pig in this group developed no deficiency symptoms and grew at the normal rate. The tentative estimate of the quantitative requirement for vitamin B12 when administered orally is 0.26 µg daily per kilogram of live weight, or not over 1.5 µg per 100 gm of food. Two pigs supplied with fortified cow's milk grew more rapidly than did those that received the vitamin injections. It is suggested that an unrecognized vitamin is essential for the optimum nutritional state.