[Effects of natural phosphate supplementation in the Gabra Zebu of Senegal]

The authors contemplate using natural phosphates, despite their high fluorine content, as an economical supplement for tropical cattle's phosphate needs. Continuous and discontinuous distribution will be tried to better understand the effects of the fluorine. Tests were carried out in Senegal on 78 Gabra Zebu bullocks. Over a 2 year period, every day each animal received differing doses (50g. and 100g.) of differing phosphates (from Taiba or from Thies) resulting in dental lesions and some bone lesions because of the fluorine content. The dental lesions were the most noticeable. Only a minority of the bone and articulary lesions were serious. Furthermore, they were inconsistent. At the end of the experiment, the animals were in good general health. It had not been possible to dose fluorine prior to this publication.