High quality milk replacers can provide similar growth and development when compared to whole milk. One should remember that not all milk replacers are created equally and selecting a high quality replacer will require a close evaluation of the ingredient tag. Milk replacers can be substituted for whole milk, but calves still require quality colostrum for the first 3 days of life. Whole milk may also be helpful in the transition period between colostrum feeding and beginning milk replacer at day 4 to 10 after birth. As a general rule of thumb, milk replacers should contain 20 percent protein and 10 percent fat with the majority of these ingredients be derived from animal sources.
Young calves are very inefficient at digesting most plant sources of protein and fat.
The following table rates the quality of different sources of protein and fat. It is desirable that at least half of the protein be derived from casein. Common sugar and starch are poor sources of energy for young calves because they are hard to digest. For more information contact Wesley Farmer or Angelica Chapa . Recommendations on this web site do not endorse any commercial products or trade names.