Cobalt
- Sheep Bolus Company
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
Symptoms of cobalt deficiency are often seen in late summer/early fall lambs. The symptoms can be so subtle that the disease was called simply “pine”, as it was believed that the poor appetites were due to lambs “pining” for their mothers after weaning. Cobalt is key to the production of B12 in the gut, which is essential to a strong immune system. This leaves the lamb susceptible to illness: pnuemonia, parasites & clostridial diseases.
Symptoms include lethargy, poor appetite, unthriftiness, & low BSC despite adequate nutrition. There may be tear staining at the eyes & eventually pale eyelids. They are more susceptible to clostridial diseases (pulpy kidney) and pasteurellosis (pneumonia).
In severe cases of cobalt deficiency, lambs display neurological issues including head pressing, and aimless wandering. In these cases, the liver has been damaged & it is labeled ‘ovine white liver syndrome’.
The question often posed is ‘Is it cobalt deficiency or is it worms?
Cobalt deficiency is most commonly seen in weaned lambs in late summer to autumn. The build up of worm burdens over the grazing season means that the two problems are often closely linked. One the one hand, a high worm burden can interfere with nutrient uptake in the gut, leading to trace element deficiencies, even for some weeks after being wormed. On the other hand, a cobalt-deficient lamb has a weakened immune system, and is likely to then suffer a high worm burden as a result. In the first instance, investigating poor growth rates in your lambs should start with a pooled worm egg count, before looking for trace element deficiencies.
One option is testing cobalt levels in the soil - this can be expensive, but useful in the long term, if for example, it flags a pasture with poor cobalt content. Be aware that it can also be misleading in cases where there is sufficient cobalt in the soil but the lambs still aren’t absorbing adequate amounts. Another option is analysing the level of Vitamin B12 in the blood, but testing individual sheep is not very reliable – it is recommended that 10 or more lambs are blood sampled to gauge the average Vitamin B12 levels through the group.” [1]
To improve live weight gain & overall health in lambs showing symptoms, it is best to use a combination of B Vitamins, specifically B12 (a constituent of cobalt). This can be achieved using intramuscular injections & drenches, or by using lamb boluses. All of the Mayo Turbo Lamb boluses (8-1 & 7-1) include three essential B Vitamins & cobalt.
“Ruminants are particularly sensitive to deficiency of B12 and they have very little capacity to store cobalt, so a deficiency significantly affects the production of B12 very quickly (within days).” [2]
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