Iodine
- Sheep Bolus Company
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
The most common symptom of iodine deficiency is goiters. A severe lack of iodine causes a lack of essential thyroid hormone production and the thyroid gland enlarges. The enlarged gland is called a goiter. The swelling occurs in the throat area and can be as large as a tennis ball. Goiters usually affect lambs, but can also occur in severely deficient adults.
“Other, less obvious, signs of iodine deficiency include fertility problems and poor scanning percentages or poor survival rates of new born lambs and changes to the skin and hair/wool. In sheep, wool changes may show as scanty wool and hairiness of the fleece.” [2]
Thyroid hormones are essential for growth & development of the foetus, particularly the brain, lungs, heart. Thyroid hormones, & consequently iodine, are essential to newborn lamb survival. Iodine deficiencies make newborn lambs more susceptible to cold, wet weather and mortalities can be very high.
“Lambs may be stillborn or weak at birth because of iodine deficiency yet show no visible enlargement of their thyroid gland. Newborn lambs with normal thyroid activity are better able to survive cold wet conditions. A mild deficiency of iodine, causing minimal outward signs of goiter, could be a major contributing cause of young lamb deaths.” [1]
Treatment of affected lambs with iodine or thyroxine tablets is rarely useful. It is more effective to ensure adequate iodine intake of the mother during development of the foetus.
Thyroid hormones regulate the rate of metabolism and control the rate of absorption of carbohydrate from the gastrointestinal tract. Iodine is essential to a good food conversion ratio. The utilization of iodine is dependent on proper selenium levels because it is essential to thyroid hormone synthesis and activation. Iodine & selenium levels directly affect the rate of gain & metabolism.
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