Blood Urea Nitrogen in Guernsey Cattle
A. G. LANE and J. R. CAMPBELL
Department of Dairy Husbandry, University of Missouri, Columbia ~
Abstract
The blood area nitrogen of 236 Guernsey
cows was measared in each quarter for 2
yr. The 12-month mean was 11.83 mg per
100 ml blood plasma (range--2.9 to 22.4).
Seasonal changes showed a significant (P <
.005) peak in the spring corresponding to
pasture; whereas, the lows were observed
in the winter months. Advaneing age and
pregnancy were associated with a decline
in blood urea nitrogen. There was no sig-
nificant (P < .05) difference in mean blood
urea nitrogen among daughters of seven
sires.
An excess of nitrogenous materials in the
rmuen can cause the production of ammonia.
The conversion of absorbed ammonia to blood
urea by the liver and the recyeling of urea to
the rumen is valuable to the protein cycle, as
reported by Ho u p t (7). This process can also
be a route of considerable loss of nitroge~ as
noted by Lewis et al. (8) and Cha]upa et al.
(3). Some absorbed nitrogen is retarned to the
rumen in salivary urea, as found by 3[eDonald
(9). The urea content of saliva was reported
by Bailey and Baleh (2) as being 65% of that
in plasma when plasma urea nitrogen ranged
from 4 to 19 mg %.
Paekett and Groves (10) suggested that an
energy source for rumen microorganisms during
feeding periods stimulated ammonia uptake for
microbial protein synthesis and resulted in a
net transfer of endogenous nitroR'en to the
Received for publication November 10, 1965.
~Contribution from Missouri Agricultural :Ex-
periment Station Journal Series no. 3025. Ap-
proved by the Director.
TABLE 1
]glood urea nitrogen by months
i~fonth Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. ,Jan. }'el). Mar.
No. of
samples 31 19 18 11 61
Mean 11.31 ]2.85 8.17 8.14 10.66 9.75 8.45 15.49 14.81 12.61 11.07 10.86 11.83
rumen. They also showed a possible direct
transfer of blood urea into the rumen, as indi-
cated by arterio-venous differences in ruminal
blood eom.entrations.
Increased blood and urine urea nitrogen eon-
,'entration in cattle on pasture forage was ob-
served by Weeth et ah (11). A rise in the
ammonia content of rumen liquor with the
transfer of cattle to grass feeding was reported
by ttead and Rook (6). Age, pregnaney, and
seasonal changes in blood urea were reported
by Clreatorex (5).
The purpose of this study was to determine
the normal variations in blood urea nitrogen
of animals, with special consideration being
given age, inheritance, l)regnancy, and season.
Experimental Procedure
Blood samples from 236 Guernsey cows were
obtained by jugular vein puncture one month
prepartum and once each quarter the following
year. Samples were collected in heparinized
glass tubes and held in ice water until they
could be transferred to plastic vials and stored
at --30 C. Samples were assayed by the method
of Friedman (4). The al)sorbanee was read
with a Bausch and Loml) Spectronic 20 Spee-
trophotometer and milligrams of urea nitrogen
determined from a standard curve.
Results and Discussion
Plasma urea nitrogen ranged from 2.9 to
22.4 rag' c,c with a mean of 1].26 fro" all analy-
ses. The mean for a 12-month period was 11.83.
Table I show.~ the monthly variations. The
highest mean level (15.49) occurred in April;
whereas, the lowest levels were observed in
November (8.17), December (8.44), and .~Iareh
(8.45). The significant peak (P < .005) in
12-
month
Apr. May June July Aug. mean
32 22 73 44 38 92 47
(my/10~) .m 1 ) - -
193
194 A. G. LANE AND J. R. CAMPBELL

TABLE 2
Blood urea nitrogen by age groups
Age (months) 18-30 31-42 43-54 55-66 67-78 79-90 91-102 103+
No. of animals 77 46 22 24 19 4 10 21
(mg/IOO ~nl)
Mean 11.19 11.46 11.25 10.97 10.65 11.15 10.05 10.72

TABLE 3
Blood urea nitrogen by stage of pregnancy
Month of pregnancy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
No. of samples 35 36 21 38 31 22 26 16
(.mg/IO0 ml)
Mean 12.57 13.67 13.95 11.54 11.49 9.69 10.02 8.39

TABLE 4
Blood urea nitrogen by sire progeny
Sire A B C D E F G
No. of samples 144 127 67 83 35 25 32
(mq/lO0 v~l)
Mean 11.50 10.93 11.51 10.16 10.33 11.11 11.08

A p r i l c o r r e s p o n d s to the b e g i n n i n g of p a s t u r e
season.
Use of blood u r e a as a s u p p l e m e n t a r y test
f o r the efficiency of p r o t e i n u t i l i z a t i o n was dis-
cussed b y A n n i s o n a n d Lewis (1). I f one
postulates t h a t the average blood u r e a n i t r o g e n
level f o r a 1-yr p e r i o d (11.83) is r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
of the o p t i m u m level of d i e t a r y p r o t e i n , feed-
i n g practices could be a d j u s t e d d u r i n g certain
times of the y e a r to o b t a i n b e t t e r efficiency of
n i t r o g e n utilization. Blood u r e a levels of cows
observed in this s t u d y exceeded the a v e r a g e
d u r i n g October, A p r i l , May, a n d J u n e . This
would suggest a s u r p l u s of avaiiable n i t r o g e n
d u r i n g these months. D u r i n g periods when the
level is below the mean, a h i g h e r d i e t a r y n i t r o -
g e n level m a y be beneficial.
A c o m p a r i s o n of the blood u r e a n i t r o g e n
c o n t e n t b y age g r o u p s is given in Table 2.
A n i m a l s in the 31-42-month age g r o u p were
observed to have the highest blood u r e a nitroo'en
level followed b y a small decline with i n c r e a s i n g
age, exeept f o r the 79- to 90-month age g r o u p .
t t o w e v e r , it should be noted t h a t only f o u r
a n i m a l s were s a m p l e d in this group. Age effects
were not significant ( P < .05).
Blood u r e a n i t r o g e n decreased in late p r e g -
n a n c y (Table 3). This suggests t h a t with addi-
tional body a n d fetus p r o t e i n deposits b e i n g
m a d e d u r i n g late p r e g n a n c y , the level of d i e t a r y
n i t r o g e n m a y need to be increased, i f blood u r e a
levels are to be m a i n t a i n e d . There was no sig-
nificant ( P < .05) difference in the m e a n blood
u r e a n i t r o g e n a m o n g d a u g h t e r s of seven sires,
as shown in Table 4.
References
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