Feed you brain

Raising dairy heifers is often seen as a costly and labor-intensive process with delayed economic returns. However, modern dairy farming demands a shift in perspective: heifers are not expenses but investments that determine the future productivity, genetic progress, and profitability of the herd.

Ruminants, characterized by their three forestomachs – one of which, the rumen, gives them their name – are born monogastric! The forestomachs function gradually become fully operational by weaning for a successful transition. During this transition, the rumen, omasum, and reticulum grow rapidly. The abomasum, which corresponds to the stomach in the strict sense of the term, represents two-thirds of the gastric and pre-gastric volumes at birth. At weaning, the stomach will occupy only one-fifth, and the rumen, two-thirds. This growth in forestomach volume is accompanied by a rapid development of absorption surfaces with the establishment of ruminal papillae. This anatomical metamorphosis is accompanied by another nutritional metamorphosis: the establishment of rumen fermentation. This ecosystem of anaerobic microorganisms supplies volatile fatty acids and microbial proteins essential for the calf’s lifelong energy and protein needs.

The calf’s birth weight typically doubles at weaning. This external growth is accompanied by the internal development of the rumen and its papillary exchange surface. This rapid muscle and tissue growth highlights the importance of early protein nutrition.

Looking for a spray-dried plasma (SDP) replacement? Hamlet Protein introduces Vegetable Plasma in the form of HP300. The combination of extremely low levels of anti-nutritional factors with a fast hydrolysable protein makes HP 300 an excellent vegetable alternative to SDP while allowing for a reduction in total feed costs.

Hamlet Protein is passionate about driving research on protein digestion, so our customers can be frontrunners in their industry. Therefore, we have spearheaded research into protein kinetics. The latest findings reveal interesting facts about use of fast protein in the diets of weaned pigs. It improves growth performance, overcomes low crude protein levels, and reduces nitrogen excretion.

Research on protein kinetics – how quickly protein is available to an animal – is gathering pace, producing results which are likely to change our approach to this key nutrient in livestock diets.

Weaning is the first major transition in the life of the ruminant. Indeed, the newborn calf begins its life with a strict monogastric status and must evolve in a few weeks towards a status of ruminant animal. Weaning is a fundamental validation step for the calf’s passport towards definitive maturity of its digestive system.

Protein kinetics is all about the speed of protein digestion. The faster a protein source is digested and absorbed the faster it becomes available for the animals. Research now shows that faster protein ingredients are also better used for growth and performance than slower ingredients which means less protein is wasted. Knowing the protein kinetics of a protein source will allow nutritionists to formulate diets with a higher protein biological value, optimising animal performance and therefore feed cost, and reducing nitrogen excretion into the environment. Hamlet Protein produces the fastest vegetal protein.