A Quantitative Study of Vitamins in the Rumen Content of Sheep and Cows Fed Vitamin-low Diets

Abstract

Four sheep were fed a ration containing less than 0.4 μg. of thiamin per gram. The dried rumen and reticulum contents of the sheep were found to contain approximately 7 μg. of thiamin per gram. No thiamin was detected in the rumen contents of two fistulated cows fed the same deficient ration, but the milk of one of these cows contained between 2 and 2.5 μg. per gram on a dry basis. Thiamin was detected in the rumen contents of a nonfistulated cow fed the deficient ration. These results confirm and extend the work of earlier investigators in indicating that thiamin is not a dietary essential for ruminants.