THE SEVERITY OF HYPOCUPREMIA IN SELECTD HERDS OF BEEF CATTLE IN NORTHWESTERN MANITOBA

Hypocupremia, a condition whereby blood serum copper (Cu) is less than 9.4 μmoles/L was monitored in 40 selected herds of beef cattle from northwestern Manitoba. Data from 27 herds, blood sampled in the spring and autumn of 1974, were from a study to evaluate, as a supplemental source of Cu, a single dose of injectable Cu glycinate in the spring; an additional 13 non-experimental herds were blood sampled in the autumn of 1974. The severity of hypocupremia was determined by the change in concentration of Cu in blood serum of non-Cu-injected cattle between spring and autumn, and the effect of injectable Cu glycinate upon this change of concentration of Cu in blood serum. Within groups of herds, injectable Cu either increased (P