ANN 111: Principles of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

REQUIREMENT AND SUPPLEMENTATION

Requirement

• Lactating Cow : 600 µg / day
• Piglet : 5 – 8 µg / kg feed
• Pig : 15 µg / kg feed
• Poultry – Broiler: 9 µg / kg feed
• Poultry – Layer : 3 µg / kg feed
• In poultry housed with access to litter, majority of the vitamin requirements can be obtained from the litter.
• Microorganisms in the rumen synthesize B₁₂. However, if levels of cobalt in the diet are low, a deficiency of the vitamin can arise.

Supplementation

• Vitamin B₁₂ is considered to be synthesized exclusively by microorganisms and its presence in foods is thought to be ultimately of microbial origin.
• The main natural sources of the vitamin are foods of animal origin, liver being a particularly rich source.