Investigation on the mineral content of pasture grass and its effect on herbivora: II. Report on the effect of the addition of mineral salts to the ration of sheep

Abstract

(1) Bent-leg appears to be due to a mineral deficiency and can be prevented by a mineral supplement.(2) Bent-leg appears, by the growth curves, to be correlated with a general lower nutrition.(3) The occurrence of bent-leg on pasture grass would indicate theoretically that an extreme lack of some mineral constituent has become evident in the grass itself.(4) Pasture analyses show that these grave mineral deficiencies do actually occur in large pastoral areas, and that these areas are correlated with high stock death-rates.(5) The mineral elements of the ration are therefore no less important to the pastoral farmer than to any other stock feeder.