Vitamins in Ruminants

References
1. Chapter 7 Dairy NRC 2001
2. Chapter 6 Beef NRC 1996

Vitamins
Organic compounds required in trace amounts for
biological processes
Vital amine
Fat soluble
A, D, E, and K
Absorbed with lipids

Water soluble
C, B family

Vitamins
Fat soluble
Vitamins A, D, E and K
Water soluble
Thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid,
biotin, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin C, choline

Water soluble vitamins and vitamin K can be synthesized in

the rumen or in body tissues
Dietary requirements: Vitamins A, D, and E

Vitamin Nutrition of Ruminants

Important
1. Some vitamins must be supplemented in the diet
2. Several aspects of vitamin nutrition unique to
ruminants
3. Likely will be more important:
As productivity of ruminants is increased
With increased confinement of animals

Vitamin Requirements of Ruminants

Ruminants require the same vitamins as monogastric
animals at cell level
Prior to rumen development young ruminants require dietary
sources of vitamins
Colostrum and milk
Concentration of vitamins in colostrum is greater than in
milk
Calves need to be fed vitamins if they are being fed milk
replacers with non milk protein

Vitamin Requirements of Ruminants

Mature ruminants have dietary requirement for:
Vitamins A, D, and E
Vitamin D in feed or from UV exposure
B vitamins usually not supplemented in ruminant diets
High producing dairy cows sometimes benefit
from supplementation with B vitamins
Mixtures of biotin, niacin, riboflaven, panothenic
acid, thiamin, and B12

Inadequate Dietary Vitamin Intakes

Low concentrations in feeds
Harvesting and agronomic effects
Processing and storage effects
Humidity, heat, light, pH, minerals, pelleting
Reduced feed intake
Bioavailability
B-vitamins affected more than fat soluble
Level of production
Increased grain intake, increased feed intake,
increased rate of passage, reduced rumen function
Rearing in confinement out of sunlight
Stress and disease
Decreased feed intake, increased requirement

Factors Influencing Vitamin Stability

+ = stable - = unstable ( ) = tocopheryl acetate

Circumstances Affecting Vitamin Nutrition

Vitamin antagonists of importance to ruminants
Dicumarin (Dicumarol)
Found in moldy sweet clover - Blocks the action
of vitamin K (Depresses formation of thrombin)
Animals can bleed internally
Rancid fats
Destroys vitamins A, D, and E
Thiamin antagonists
Thiaminase - may develop in the rumen
Amprolium blocks absorption
Sulfur may destroy thiamin in the rumen

Situations for Supplementing Vitamins

Vitamin A (Retinol)
Vitamin of most practical importance in ruminant feeds.
Deficiency most likely:
High concentrate feeds (low forage)
Large amounts of fermented feeds
Mature - drought pastures
Long stored feeds
Sunlight, air, high temperatures
Heavily processed feeds
Some destruction of vitamin A in the rumen
Increases when concentrates are fed
Forage diets 20%
Grain diets up to 70%

-Carotene
Provitamin A found in many plants
Mostly in the vegetative parts of plants
Decreases as plants mature
Decreases with time in storage
Some destruction in the rumen (0 to 35%)
Converted to retinol by enzymes in intestinal mucosal cells
Some absorption of -carotene
Ruminants do not efficiently convert carotene to vitamin A
1 mg carotene = 400 IU vitamin A

Vitamin A
Deficiency
Reduced feed intake - slow growth
Rough hair coat
Edema of joints and brisket
Watery eyes
Night blindness
Retinol needed for synthesis of rhodopsin
Low conception
Still births
Function of immune system

Vitamin A
Functions
Normal night vision
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/matthews/
rhodopsin.html

Vitamin A
Requirements
Cattle
Growing
Pregnant beef cows
Pregnant dairy cows
Lactating cows
Sheep
Growing lambs
Gestating ewes
Lactating ewes

IU/kg feed DM
2,200
2,800
4,000
3,900
1,500
3,300
2,700

Vitamin A
Requirements
Dairy cattle
Growing: 80 IU/kg body wt
Adult: 110 IU/kg body wt
Supplemental Vitamin A (retinol)
1 IU of Vit A activity =
0.344 ug of all-trans retinyl acetate
0.550 ug all-trans retinyl palmitate

Vitamin A When to Supplement?

Carotene content of feeds is variable and usually
unknown
Cost of supplemental vitamin A is low so usually
should supplement
Exception is animals grazing green forages
Should be consuming adequate carotene
Increased exposure to infectious pathogens
Times when immunocompetence may be reduced

Vitamin A Reserves in the Body

Vitamin A stored in the liver when intake of
vitamin A or carotene is high
Vitamin A in the liver has about 4 week
half life
Should not depend on more than 2 to 4
months of protection from storage of
vitamin A in the liver
Ruminants have a high tolerance for
vitamin A Will tolerate 66,000 IU/kg feed

Vitamin D
1. Ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2) - found in plants
2. Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) - found in animals
Photochemical conversion in skin:
7-dehydrocholesterol
Cholecalciferol
Liver (Sequesters Vit D3)
Vit D3
25-hydroxy-vit D3
Circulating form of Vit D3
Blood concentrations of 25-hydroxy-vit D3
indication of vitamin D status of the animal
Kindney
25-hydroxy-vit D3
1, 25-dihydroxy-vit D3
Active form of vitamin D
Active on skeleton and intestine

Vitamin D from UV exposure

Active Vit D3

Vitamin D3
Low blood Ca (or P) increases parathyroid hormone
secretion
Parathyroid hormone increases production of
1,25-dihydroxy-vit D3 in kidney
Increases resorption of bone Ca and P
Involved in:
Absorption of Ca and P and mobilization of Ca
and P from bone
Regulation of blood Ca and P
Immune cell function
Reproduction of males and females

Vitamin D - Ruminants
Deficiency
Rickets in calves
Swollen and stiff joints
Reduced feed intake
Tetany
Weak bones
Vitamin D can be toxic
High blood Ca
Calcification of soft tissues
Loss of appetite
Vitamin D not stored in the body in any quantity

Vitamin D - Requirements
Requirement
IU/kg Feed DM
All beef cattle
275
Growing lambs
185
Gestating ewes
216
Lactating ewes
148
Lactating dairy
30 IU/kg body wt
Dry pregnant cows
30 IU/kg body wt
Generally recognized as more than required
Animals fed sun cured hays and/or kept in sunlight
have limited needs for supplemental vitamin D
Dairy NRC does not give credit to feed and sunlight
as sources of vitamin D

Vitamin D Toxicity
Safe feeding levels:
A few days - 25,000 IU/kg feed
60 days - 2,200 IU/kg feed
Toxicity
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Reduced rumination
Depression
Widespread calcification of soft tissue
Kidneys, heart, pancreas, lymph glands, lung alveoli
Inflammation
Demineralization of skeletal system

Feeding Mega Doses of Vitamin D

Prevent milk fever
20 million IU/d starting 3 to 5 days before calving
continuing through the fist day postpartum
Improve tenderness of beef
Assumption:
Increased blood and muscle Ca increases
activity of calpains, enzymes in muscle
that degrade muscle myofibrils
Observations:
Blood Ca increased
Increased degradation of myofibrils
Reduced force to shear muscle

Vitamin E
-tocopherol is the most common form of
vitamin E in feeds
Vit E content of feeds is highly variable
Vit E decreases in forages with drying and storage
Most fresh forages excellent source of Vit E
Most grains have low concentrations of Vit E
Heat treatment destroys most of the Vit E
Supplemental form of vitamin E is DL- -tocopherol
The esterified form is more stable than the alcohol
Rumen metabolism is minimal
1 IU = 1 mg DL- -tocopherol

Vitamin E
Functions as an antioxidant and involved in
Maintenance of cell membranes
Immunity
Reproduction
Deficiency
White muscle disease
Weak muscles
Retained placenta
Reduced reproduction
Reduced disease resistance
Toxicity not demonstrated in ruminants
Vitamin E not extensively stored in the body

Vitamin E - Dairy - 2001

1. Dry cows 60 days before calving
80 IU/kg feed DM
Based on reduction of mastitis and immune function
Higher amounts needed for fetus and to increase
concentration in colostrum
2. Lactating cows
20 IU/kg feed DM
Needs to be increased when poor quality
forage is fed or if feeds have low Se content
Supplement Se if low in soils
3 to 5 mg /d for dry cows
6 to 8 mg/d for lactating cows

Vitamin E - Beef & Sheep

Requirement
IU/kg feed DM
All beef cattle
15 to 60
Pregnant and lactating cows 20
Growing heifers
25
All sheep
15
Related to adequacy of selenium
Vitamin E not transferred across placenta to fetus
Dependent on colostrum for dietary source
Feedlot cattle
Feed 500 IU/day for 100 days.
Extend shelf life of beef cuts in the sales case

Vitamin K
Vitamin K is a generic term describing a group
of quinone compounds
Phylloquinone (vitamin K1)
Found in chloroplasts of plants
Menaquinone (vitamin K2)
Synthesized by rumen bacteria
Menadione (vitamin K3)
Synthetic form used for supplementing vit K

Vitamin K
Required for synthesis of four blood clotting factors
Prothrombin, factors VII, IX, and X
Involved in blood clot formation
No established supplemental requirement for ruminants
Microbial synthesis and vit K in feeds
Deficiency limited to:
Cattle consuming moldy sweet clover have
prolonged clotting of blood - sweet clover disease
A fungus produces dicoumarol that is a metabolic
antagonist of vitamin K
Stiffness and lameness
Uncontrolled bleeding hematoma of tissues

Other Water Soluble Vitamins

Not required in diet of ruminants
Ruminants with functional rumen obtain water
soluble vitamins from the digestive tract
Niacin -------- Supplementation may benefit high
Biotin ---producing animals
Folic acid --Vitamin B12 Synthesized in rumen if Co present,
not present in feeds
Vitamin C - Not synthesized in cattle until about 3 wks
Riboflavin
Pyridoxine
Pantothenic acid
Choline

Supplementation of B Vitamins
1. Prevent overt deficiency symptoms
Probably occur only in calves fed milk replacers
2. Prevent subclinical deficiencies
Optimum production
Impact of stress on immune system
Niacin - May benefit early lactation cows
Biotin - May benefit herds with high incidence of
hoof lesions
Folic acid - Might increase milk production
Cobalt - B12 - (methylmalonyl CoA mutase) utilization
of propionate, foliate metabolism, milk yield
B-vitamins - immune function of stressed cattle

Thiamin
1. Adequate quantities normally produced by the bacteria
in the rumen
2. Inadequate thiamin
Thiaminase and thiamin antimetabolites produced
in ruminants fed rapidly fermented diets
Infrequently polioencephalomalacia (PEM),
a disorder of the central nervous system
develops
Retracted head, weakness, collapse, blindness
are symptoms
Respond to administration of thiamin