Zinc deficiency in Sudanese desert sheep

Reduced appetite, skin lesions and deaths occurred in sheep feeding on Rhodes grass (Chloris gayama) at a farm near Khartoum North. The concentration of zinc in the grass and in the serum and liver of affected animals was low. These findings, the skin lesions and the favourable response to the injection of zinc (to be reported) suggest that the clinical condition was due to a deficiency of zinc in the diet of the sheep.