Abstract
Cadmium-poor nutrition (< 15 μg Cd/kg feed dry matter (DM)) did not affect feed intake and growth rate, while it affected reproduction performance. Intrauterinally cadmium-depleted kids were often phlegmatic, too lazy to eat and drink, and died of muscle weakness. With oral application of the control feed (300 μg Cd/kg DM), they slowly regained their mobility. Feeding them 65 μg Cd/kg feed DM prevented myasthenia. The normative cadmium requirement of goats (and animals in general) amounts to < 20 μg/kg diet DM. The daily requirement of humans might be < 3 μg.
