Assessment of the effect of methionine supplementation and inclusion of hydrolyzed wheat protein in milk protein-based milk replacers on the performance of intensively fed Holstein calves

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to compare 2 milk replacers containing only milk proteins with or without supplemental Met, and to compare a milk replacer containing hydrolyzed wheat protein at 4.5% of dry matter (DM) and supplemental Lys and Met against the 2 all-milk-protein formulas, by assessing their effect on the growth performance, efficiency, and plasma urea nitrogen of pre-weaning Holstein calves. Thus, 57 Holstein calves were allotted to the following 3 treatments: (1) a skim milk plus whey protein concentrate-based milk replacer (SMWP) containing about 2.6% Lys and 0.6% Met on a DM basis; (2) SMWP + M based on skim milk and whey proteins, containing about 2.6% Lys, and supplemental Met to reach 0.9% on a DM basis; and (3) a skim milk plus whey protein concentrate plus 4.5% of the DM as hydrolyzed wheat protein based milk replacer (HWP + LM) where the wheat protein replaced 50% of the whey protein concentrate, and also contained supplemental Lys and Met to match the profile of SMWP + M (i.e., Lys 2.6 and Met 0.9% on DM basis). No difference in any of the responses was observed by supplementing the milk protein based formula with Met or when hydrolyzed wheat protein was added to the formula. Results indicate that (1) a milk replacer based on skim milk protein and whey protein with a Lys concentration of ~2.6% does not benefit from Met supplementation, and (2) milk replacer containing 4.5% of the DM as hydrolyzed wheat protein and supplemented with Lys and Met can support the same growth performance as milk protein-based formulas.

Amino acid supplementation of calf milk replacers containing plasma protein

“…Inc., Cary, NC). Because of inherent variability in composition of MR with added AA (Castro et al, 2016;Vasquez et al, 2017), we tested the AA composition among treatments by conducting an ANOVA using the GLM procedure in SAS, with sample considered the experimental unit. The Tukey adjustment was used to determine the differences among treatments.…”

Skeletal muscle metabolomics and blood biochemistry analysis reveal metabolic changes associated with dietary amino acid supplementation in dairy calves

“…Traditionally, bovine milk is considered to be the standard for feeding dairy cattle 1 and before 1956, whole milk was the main feed for calves 2 . Due to the increasing demand for dairy products, many dairy cattle farms started feeding calves with commercial milk replacers (MRs) 3 .…”

Effects of methionine plus cysteine inclusion on performance and body composition of liquid-fed crossbred calves fed a commercial milk replacer and no starter feed

“…According to data observed in the present study, the Met + Cys concentration in WM (4.04 g/100 g of CP) is below the optimal level observed for best calf performance (4.4 g/100 g of CP). Consequently, Met + Cys are actually low in milk proteins, as proposed by Hill et al (2008) and Castro et al (2016), even WM being considered the best protein and energy source for calves. In addition, it is worth noting that the MR used in this study is even poorer in Met + Cys (2.8 g/100 g of CP); therefore, we suggest that companies that produce MR should add crystalline Met to their products, thereby ensuring a qualitatively higher Met + Cys product for calves' best performance.…”

“…Milk is considered the best protein source for young calves due to its high digestibility and balanced AA profile (Huang et al, 2015;Castro et al, 2016). However, only few studies have suggested modifications of the AA profile of liquid diets for dairy calves to promote greater performance (Hill et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2012;Hill et al, 2016).…”