The blood hemoglobin value of dairy cattle has been used as an index of the nutritional status of an animal with respect to iron, copper and cobalt. The literature is somewhat conflicting as to what constitutes a normal blood hemoglobin value for dairy cattle. Dukes (1) reports 12.2 g. hemoglobin per 100 ml. of blood as the normal hemoglobin value of the bovine species, whereas McCay (6) regards 10.9 g. as normal. Much of the conflicting evidence may be due in part to the many and varied methods of analysis. Many types of optical instruments have been used with variable results. Chemical analyses have not been too reliable. Inasmuch as difficulty is encountered in interpreting the literature with respect to a normal blood hemoglobin, additional data are desirable.
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Byers et al. (1952) studied this question.