Studies of the skeleton of the sheep. III. The relationship between phosphorous intake and resorption and repair of the skeleton in pregnancy and lactation

Abstract

1. The ash content of the skeleton of Cheviot ewes fed a daily ration containing about 4·5 g. of phosphorus fell by 18·8% between mid-gestation and mid-lactation, and 2 months after the end of lactation the loss was fully replaced. 2. In ewes fed a daily ration containing about 1·5 g. of phosphorus the loss of skeletal ash was 39·9% at mid-lactation, and this was not replaced 2 months after the end of lactation. When the phosphorus intake was raised in mid-lactation from 1·5 to 4·5 g. repair was greater but was still not complete. 3. Resorption was greater in bones rich in cancellous tissue, such as the cervical vertebrae, than in those rich in compact tissue, such as the shafts of long bones, but when severe resorption took place significant losses were found in the shafts of long bones as well as in other bones. 4. Whole blood inorganic phosphorus values were very low, particularly during lactation, in ewes fed on the low-phosphorus ration. When extra phosphorus was fed from mid-lactation onwards blood phosphorus values rose to normal in less than four weeks, a much more rapid recovery than that which took place in the skeleton. 5. Resorption of the skeletons of ewes on both moderate and low-phosphorus rations could be detected using radiographs taken of the radius in the living animal at mid-lactation, and severe resorption found in ewes fed on the low-phosphorus ration could be distinguished readily from the milder resorption found in ewes fed on the moderate-phosphorus ration.