Vitamin nutrition of livestock animals: Overview from vitamin discovery to today

Abstract

The term “vitamin” or “vitamine” was first used in 1912. What later became known as vitamin deficiency diseases — scurvy, beriberi, night blindness and xeropthalmia — had plagued the world from antiquity. From 1900 through the 1930s, experiments with animals helped to advance knowledge of vitamins considerably. There are 15 vitamins of significance for livestock. A number of factors influence vitamin requirements and vitamin utilization, including physiological make-up and production function; confinement rearing without pasture; stress, disease and adverse environmental conditions; vitamin antagonists; use of antimicrobial drugs; and body vitamin reserves. Under commercial livestock and poultry production conditions, vitamin allowances higher than National Research Council (USA) requirements may be needed for optimum performance. Generally, the optimum vitamin supplementation level is the quantity that achieves the best growth rate, feed utilization and health (including immune competency), while also providing adequate body reserves. Key words: Vitamins, history, deficiency, requirements, supplementation