Influence of High Levels of Plant and Animal Fats in Calf Starters on Growth, Feed Consumption, and Palatability

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Abstract
In a growth experiment with 7 calves per starter, the addition of 10% brown grease, 10% hydrogenated cottonseed oil, or 5% of each to calf starters markedly reduced consumption and weight gain. The addition of 10% of each of the fats further reduced gains and starter consumption. The simple and partial correlations between starter consumption and weight gains were 0.84 and 0.85, which indicates that a major portion of the reduction in growth was associated with reduced starter intake. In a cafeteria study, each of 9 calves significantly preferred the control starter. However, one calf demonstrated a similar decisive preference for the starter with 10% added brown grease. In another cafeteria study with 11 calves, 1% brown grease did not significantly affect palatability of a calf starter.