A potassium and sodium balance study in two breeds of sheep

Abstract

A balance experiment measuring potassium and sodium intake and excretion was carried out on Romney Marsh and Merino sheep. For either potassium or sodium the correlation between total intake and total excretion was high and no difference was found between the two breeds in the relative importance of the urinary and faecal routes of excretion. A mean value of 11% of the total potassium excretion and 12% of the total sodium excretion appeared in the faeces, with the respective remainders, 89 and 88%, being voided in the urine. The relative importance of cutaneous losses of the two cations in suint is discussed briefly. Neither total intake of potassium nor gain or loss in weight by the sheep could be shown to influence the relative importance of the two routes of potassium excretion investigated in this work. This was also true of sodium.