Abstract. The utilization of spray-dried fat free milk powder in three different froms 1) untreated, 2) treated with formaldehyde (0.4 g formaldehyde/100 g crude protein) and 3) pelleted with barley meal (30 % milk powder and 70 % barley meal) was studied with three rumen-fistulated dairy cows according to a 3 x 3 Latin square. The effects of different treatments were investigated with respect to rumen fermentation, microbial determinations and milk and blood analyses.The basic feed in every diet consisted of hay, grass silage, barley, oats, mineral and vitamin mixtures. Feeding was according to nutrient requirement. In each diet 25 % of the DCP required for milk production was replaced with milk protein.The NHj concentration in the rumen fluid was lowest on the pelleted diet followed by the formaldehyde treated and untreated skimmilk powder diets, the differences only being significant between the pelleted and untreated diets. The pH values were significantly higher on the pelleted diet than on the other diets. The VFA content of the rumen fluid was similar on the different diets.The total amount of rumen ciliates was highest on the untreated skimmilk powder diet and lowest on the pelleted diet. The quantity of bacteria was however lower on the untreated skimmilk powder diet than on the other diets. Bacteria constituted 72 -BB % of the total microbe mass on the different diets. The total microbe mass consisted of the following percentages of rumen content on the different diets: untreated 3.3 %, formaldehyde treated 3.2 % and pelleted diet 2,9 %.No effects on the milk yields and blood contents were found with the difierent treatments of skimmilk powder. Milk protein-% was significantly higher on the untreated skimmlik powder diet than on the pelleted diet.Utilization of dietary protein by ruminants depends to a great degree on its solubility. The more soluble proteins produce more ammonia in the rumen and are not utilized so well by ruminants (McDonald 1952, Chalmers andSynge, 1954). Many experiments, as reviewed by Chalupa (1975), Ferguson (1975 and Barry (1976) have shown, that certain processing of dietary protein, for example heating and formaldehyde treatment, can promote increased nitrogen utilization by reducing the rate of the degradation of the proteins and thus the ammonia production in the rumen.
167Casein has a very high solubility. The percentage of the dietary protein escaping fermentation in the rumen is only 9 % for casein, whereas it is 61 % for soya bean meal and 71 % for fish meal (Hume 1974). The utilization of this high quality milk protein is thus rather low, but can be improved by rumen by-pass (Chalmers et al. 1954, Faichney and Weston 1971, Asplund 1975).In milk powder preparation different treatments are used including drying at various temperatures. How these treatments influence the solubility, and thus the utilization by ruminants, is not well investigated. The purpose of this experiment was to study, mainly with rumen fermentation and microbial determinations, the utilization by da...