The nutrition of the early-weaned calf. II. A comparison of commercial groundnut meal, heat-treated groundnut meal and fish meal as the major protein source in the diet

Abstract

1. Nitrogen balance studies were conducted on 6 early-weaned calves fed three diets containing respectively commercial groundnut meal, heattreated groundnut meal and fish meal as the major protein sources.2. Nitrogen retention and live-weight gain differed significantly between diets, being highest on the fish meal diet and least on the commercial groundnut diet.3. Blood urea concentration was significantly lower on the fish meal diet than on either of the groundnut diets but differences between the groundnuts were not significant.4. Differences between diets in nitrogen utilisation were due almost entirely to differential urinary nitrogen losses.