Influence of ingestion of aluminum, citric acid and soil on mineral metabolism of lactating beef cows.

Lactating beef cows (16 Hereford and 34 Angus, 430 kg average body weight, aged 8 to 10 yr) were fed a basal diet containing 200 micrograms/g Al alone or supplemented with Al-citrate, citric acid, soil or soil plus citric acid for 56 d. Diets containing Al-citrate, soil and soil plus citric acid contained 1,730, 1,870 and 1,935 micrograms/g Al, dry-basis, respectively. Adding soil to the diet also increased Mg and Fe content of the diet. Aluminum values in ruminal contents of beef cows fed the basal alone or supplemented with citric acid, Al-citrate, soil or soil plus citric acid were 800, 990, 2,930, 3,410 and 2,910 micrograms/g, air-dry basis, respectively. Serum Mg and inorganic P declined (P less than .01) and urinary Ca concentration increased (P less than .01) for cows fed Al-citrate. By d 56, serum Mg was 1.5 and 2.2 mg/dl, and serum P was 3.8 and 6.8 mg/dl, for cows fed Al-citrate and basal diets, respectively. Calcium concentrations in urine were 281 and 11 micrograms/g for cows fed Al-citrate and basal diets, respectively. Citric acid, soil and soil plus citric acid had no detrimental effects on serum Mg and inorganic P, or urinary Ca concentration. By d 56, serum Ca was higher (P less than .06) in cows fed Al-citrate, compared with cows on the other four diets. Bone Ca, P, Zn and percent ash were not significantly affected by treatment but bone Mg tended to be slightly lower (P less than .07) for cows fed Al-citrate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)