The source of protein in calf diets. II. Meat meal quality

Abstract

In experiments designed to study the effect of the quality of meat meal on growth and efficiency of feed utilization, diets containing meat meals from six different sources were given to 78 male Friesian calves between 5 and 11 weeks of age, 19 calves between 11 and 17 weeks of age, and 168 chickens. The source of meat meal resulted in a significant difference in liveweight gain in the calves; this was related to the calcium and cystine contents of the meat meals. For chickens the effect of meat meal source was dependent on the formulation of the diets. The free amino acid, ammonia, and urea concentrations in the blood plasma of both species are presented.