Fat Digestibility by Dairy Calves

Abstract

The utilization of fat in milk replacers by the dairy calf was studied. When a milk replacer composed predominantly of dried skimmilk was supplemented with tallow, coconut fat, grease, or butter, in the unhomogenized state, the fat was poorly digested. However, the inclusion of crude soybean lecithin in the milk replacer improved the utilization of tallow, coconut fat, and grease. The digestibility of coconut fat was improved to a greater extent than was that of tallow or grease by the inclusion of lecithin in the milk replacer.