POSTPRANDIAL LEVELS OF SERUM GLUCOSE AND PERFORMANCE OF VEAL CALVES FED MILK REPLACERS CONTAINING SKIM MILK POWDER OR SOYBEAN PROTEIN-CONCENTRATE

Veal calves were fed liquid diets containing either skim milk powder or soybean concentrate. The soybean protein diet was fed either as 1 single meal or as 2 meals of different composition, fed with a 1-h interval. The latter animals first received a meal consisting almost exclusively of carbohydrates, followed by a meal containing the fat and protein components of the diet. The postprandial increases in the levels of serum triglycerides and amino acid N were highest in the calves fed the soybean protein diets. The animals fed skim milk powder displayed higher postprandial serum glucose concentrations than the calves fed the intact soybean protein diet. When the soybean-protein diet was fed as 2 meals, a marked serum glucose spike was observed after feeding. There was no difference in body weight gain and feed conversion ratio between the calves receiving the soybean protein diet as 1 or 2 meals. The presence and absence of postprandial peaks of serum glucose in veal calves fed skim milk powder and soybean protein, respectively, do not explain the earlier observed differences in growth rates of calves fed these proteins.