Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2009
In an empirical manner cod liver oil has been used for many years as an occasional food for farm animals. Generally speaking, its use has been chiefly confined to the rearing of calves and to improving the condition of horses. It is difficult to glean from the literature of animal husbandry information about the use of this oil, but it would appear that whilst the majority of authorities favour its employment in small amounts in special cases others are inclined to regard the oil with suspicion. Thus, Campbell (1900) (i) recommends cod liver oil as an efficient substitute for cream in the rearing of calves; a conclusion that was confirmed in a later publication from the Leeds Station (Seton, 1901) (2). These reports warn users against the inferior grades of oil and show that if good preparations are used there is no detrimental effect on the flesh when animals are afterwards slaughtered as bullocks.