Kale Anaemia. II. Further Factors Concerned in the Occurrence of the Disease under Experimental Conditions

Abstract

Blood haemoglobin concentration in 2 steers fed exclusively on Maris Kestrel kale for 173 days fell to 6.2 g./100 ml. after 2 to 3 weeks, then rose to about 8 g./100 ml. and fluctuated around this level for the rest of the trial. Goats made anaemic by kale feeding and then allowed to recover for 76 days on a kale-free diet became anaemic again when re-exposed to kale. Two trials were made with steers or cows fed on rations containing 0, 33, 67 or 100% of their dry matter as kale. The higher the proportion of kale in the ration the more rapidly the animals became anaemic, and the more severe was the anaemia. Cows were more severely affected than steers, apparently because they ate more kale per unit of metabolic liveweight. The 4 inbred lines of kale used to produce Maris Kestrel all caused anaemia in goats, and Scotch Curled kale caused anaemia in cattle. Young goats were more rapidly and more severely affected than old; this difference, too, appeared to be related to kale intake per unit of metabolic liveweight.