Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-03T05:37:02.669Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A note on goitre in lambs grazing rape (Brassica napus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. J. F. Russel
Affiliation:
Hill Farming Research Organisation, Edinburgh 9
Get access

Extract

Forage crops of the genus Brassica are known to contain goitrogens which under certain conditions can cause severe incidences of neonatal mortality in lambs and goitre in older sheep (Shand, 1952; Sinclair and Andrews, 1958, 1959, 1961; Andrews and Sinclair, 1962).

In the course of studies of certain aspects of lamb growth it was noted that lambs grazing rape (Brassica napus) had heavier thyroid glands than comparable lambs grazing grass. Pipes, Premachandra and Turner (1958) found that a degree of hypothyroidism increased the rate of fattening and influenced the carcass quality of cattle, and in view of this and other evidence it was decided to test the hypothesis that changes in the weight of the thyroid glands of lambs grazing rape were associated with changes in the rate of live-weight gain.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andrews, E. D., & Sinclair, D. P., 1962. Goitre and neonatal mortality in lambs. Proc. N.Z. Soc. Anim. Prod., 22: 123132.Google Scholar
Flux, D. S., Butler, G. W., Rae, A. L., Abrougham, R. W., 1960. Relationship between levels of iodine and cyanogenetic glucoside in pasture and the productive performance of sheep. J. agric. Sci., 55: 191196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pipes, G. W., Premachandra, B. N., & Turner, C. W., 1958. A technique for estimation of the effectiveness of goitrogens in cattle. J. Anim. Sci., 17: 227234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultze, A. B., & Turner, C. W., 1948. Relation of endocrine gland weight to body weight in growing and mature female dairy goats. Univ. Miss. Agric. Exp. Sta. Res. Bull. no. 427.Google Scholar
Shand, A., 1952. The goitrogenic factor in kale. Report of Proc. Conference on Metabolic Disorders. B.V.A. Publ. no. 23, pp. 5865.Google Scholar
Sinclair, D. P., & Andrews, E. D., 1958. Prevention of goitre in newborn lambs from kale-fed ewes. N.Z. vet. J., 6: 8795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, D. P., & Andrews, E. D., 1959. Failure of mild goitre to influence growth in kale-fed weaned lambs. N.Z. vet. J., 7: 3941.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, D. P., & Andrews, E. D., 1961. Deaths due to goitre in newborn lambs prevented by iodized poppy-seed oil. N.Z. vet. J., 9: 96100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar