Sulphate Recycling and Metabolism in Sheep and Cattle

Abstract

Merino wethers and Brahman x Shorthorn steers, offered lucerne or spear grass hay, were used to study the movements of sulphate through pools in plasma and ruminalliquor. The irreversible loss of sulphate from ruminalliquor was 60 and 76% of sulphur ingested for both species fed lucerne and spear grass respectively. The irreversible loss of sulphate from the plasma averaged 67 and 56% of sulphur ingested for animals fed lucerne and spear grass respectively.