Copper accumulation in the liver of sheep and cattle fed diets supplemented with copper sulfate or copper chloride

Six groups of 12 pregnant cows were fed barley or grass silage with or without copper sulfate or copper chloride supplements (16 or 14 mg copper kg −1 dry matter (DM)). In addition, five groups of 10 lambs were fed diets supplemented with 5 or 10 mg Cu kg −1 DM as salts of sulfate or chloride. The two Cu salts produced equal increases in the concentration of Cu in the livers of both sheep and cattle. Key words: Sheep, cattle, liver, copper sulfate, copper chloride