STUDIES ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE BLOOD OF FARM ANIMALS
IN INDIA
1. A STUDY OF SOME HAEMATOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS IN THE
BLOOD OF NORMAL CATTLE
By D. N. MULLICK and A. K. PAL, Animal Nutrition Section, Imperial Veterinary Research Institute,
Izatnagar
(Received for publication on 8 September 1942)
FROM an extensive study of the blood composi-
tion of livestock carried out in South Africa and
the United States of America, it was concluded that
an analysis of blood could be conveniently used
for the detection of some forms of deficiency in farm
animals before any clinical symptoms developed.
Once standard figures for the different blood consti-
tuents of normal animals become available, it will
be easier to interpret any change in those constitu-
ents resulting from disease.
In India, little work has been done on this
subject, hence the main purpose of this investiga-
tion has been to establish a normal value for the
blood constituents of farm animals, especially of
cattle, in India under varying climatic conditions.
To this end, data are recorded from various groups
of cattle at this Institute. The conduct of feeding
and management of the animals may be considered
similar to that of any other Government farm in this
country.
EXPERIMENTAL
The animals used were mostly of the Hissar
breed excepting six working bullocks of the Dhanni
variety. All the animals were tested for tuber-
culosis and rinderpest and were found negative ;
further all of them remained healthy throughout
the experiment. They were divided into the
following groups and sub-groups ;
1. Growing animals :
0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months.
2. Adult animals :
(i) Cows : lactating, lactating and pregnant,
pregnant and dry.
(ii) Bullocks and bulls : Hissar, Dhanni (work-
ing animals).
Blood samples were taken at the same time each
morning and before feeding ; neutral potassium
oxalate solution was used as anti-coagulant.
Whole blood was taken for the estimations of red
blood corpuscles, white blood corpuscles, haemo-
globin, iron, inorganic phosphorus and sugar, while
serum was used for calcium and magnesium esti-
mations. Blood for determinations of inorganic
phosphorus and sugar was sampled on the spot.
The chemical methods used for analysis of Ca
Mg, P and sugar were those suggested in the tech-
nical communication No. 9 of the Imperial Bureau
of Animal Nutrition [1937]. Standard methods
were employed for cell-count [Schafer, 1938]; iron
and haemoglobin were determined by the method
of Wong and the standard glass plates of New-
comer respectively, as described by Hawk and
Bergeim [1938].
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The average figures for analysis of blood consti-
tuents are given in Table I.
From this table, it may be observed that the
values for red and white blood cells, haemoglobin,
iron, calcium, phosphorus and sugar were highest
in the young animals and decreased with age. In
the case of inorganic phosphorus, the gradual fall
with increasing age was relatively more conspi-
cuous. In adult animals of different groups
namely, lactating and pregnant and dry, these
constituents remained practically constant.
When breed characteristics were taken into con-
sideration, it was noticed that the inorganie phos-
phorus and magnesium were highest in the Dhanni
bullocks and that the sugar remained constant in
all the breeds. Magnesium remained practically
constant, irrespective of age or sex.
Red blood corpuscles. The average values were
11.6 and 8.1 millions per c. mm. of blood for grow-
ing and adult animals, respectively. These results
agree with those of Canham [1930] for growing
animals and with those of Fraser [1931], Nicols
[1935], Dukes [1937] and Sankaranarayan [1937]
for adults.
White blood corpuscles. The averages were 13.1
and 9.0 thousands for young and adult animals,
respectively. These average values are in close
agreement with those of Canham [1930], Fraser
[1931], Dukes [1937] and Sankaranarayan [1937].
Haemoglobin. The average values for haemo-
globin were 14.6 and 10.9 gm. per 100 ml. of blood
for young and adult animals, respectively. The
results agree with those of McCay [1931], Brooks
and Huges [1932], Dukes [1937], Hammersma
[1937], Gonzaga [1939], and Allcroft [1941].
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