For approximately 60 years, milk replacer has been on the scene. The big selling point over the years has been the supposed cost savings in raising calves over the use of whole milk. Better make a change, whole milk actually gets better results. Penn State University did a trial comparing calves fed whole milk vs. milk replacer. So guess who won? Whole milk! The heifers fed whole milk out-produced their milk replacer contemporaries by 2,000 pounds milk per lactation. Please take their advice and feed only whole milk. This would explain why many of our “elite breeder” customers who sell the bulls to the bull studs that you breed your cows to tell us they feed whole milk to their calves. One told us, “One of the best investments we ever made was to buy a calf milk pasteurizer for less than $10,000. We were spending $2,500 per month in milk replacer.” Just a quick survey of other producers who feed whole milk showed 1) healthier calves, 2) faster rate of gain, 3) & can be weaned earlier. An innovative idea on whole milk calf feeding is a UV Pure Ultraviolet calf milk purifier. This retains of 43% more of IgG in colostrum vs conventional pasteurization and will save you up to 92% in energy operational costs over other units. Check out www.gea-farmtechnologies.us. One more thing, top dairymen also add .25 oz. Immu-PRO in each calf’s milk every morning.
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