Abstract
THE importance and essential role of vitamin B12 and cobalt, its precursor, in ruminant nutrition and metabolism have been described1–3. Cobalt deficiency in sheep results in marked changes in the rumen microflora4, and although some difference in the efficiency of fibre digestion may thus be expected to follow, there is little evidence to support this. Marston et al.2 state that the rate and course of carbohydrate fermentation are unaffected by low cobalt levels in the rumen. Other workers have reported that cobalt supplements increased the digestibility of fibre5,6, while Becker and Smith7 found fibre digestibility to be reduced by cobalt supplementation, although the digestibility of ether extract and nitrogen-free extract increased.
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