Functional Fish Protein Concentrate in Milk Replacers for Calves

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Abstract
A fish protein concentrate with improved function properties (i.e., water-holding and emulsification capacity) was tested in milk replacers for calves as the principal source of protein in a semisynthetic diet and with dried whey in a practical diet. The fish protein concentrate did not cause digestive problems, and the calves remained healthy when fed the fish protein concentrate as the principal source of protein from 3-63 days or together with dried whey from 2-12 wk of age. Apparent protein digestibility in calves between 7-63 days of age was curvilinearly related to age and was 90.5 and 96.1% for fish and milk protein. Practical milk replacers with the fish protein concentrate and dried whey had similar nutrient and energy digestibility but gave slightly lower N retention and growth rate compared with an all-milk milk replacer when fed as the sole feed to preruminant calves. When fed together with concentrate and hay to replacement calves, a milk replacer with fish protein concentrate and dried whey gave similar performance to an all-milk milk replacer.