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Comparative Nutritional Value of Liquid Milk and Dried Milk for Young Calves

Department of Dairying, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

ABSTRACT

Three groups of 24 Jersey heifer calves were fed from five to nine weeks (A) calf starter without milk, (B) starter with dried skimmilk, or (C) starter with reconstituted skimmilk. Body weight gains of Group C, 13.5 kg, exceeded (P < .01) those of Groups A, 9.9 kg, and B, 9.7 kg. The improved gains of Group C were accompanied by significantly greater feed consumption. Adding dried skimmilk to starter gave no benefit. Thirty-four Holstein calves (A) were fed rations in which the skimmilk fed was reconstituted, in comparison with 32 calves (B) receiving an equivalent amount of dried skimmilk mixed into their dry feed. Weight gains to 13 weeks of Group A, 43.4 kg, significantly (P < .01) exceeded Group B, 37.1 kg, although total feed intakes on a dry basis did not differ significantly. Feeding milk in liquid form could, therefore, improve calf gains either by improving feed intake or by efficiency of feed utilization. Metabolism tests with eight pairs of ten-week-old calves showed that protein was digested better when milk was fed in liquid form than when fed dry, but the amount of nitrogen retained by the two groups did not differ significantly (P < .05). Calcium and phosphorus balances determined with four pairs of 15-week-old calves, showed the liquid milk diet slightly superior to the dry milk. The more efficient use of diets containing liquid milk can be explained by the fact that liquid milk by-passing the rumen results in more metabolizable energy than does dry milk in the concentrate, which must go through the rumen.