[Comparison of lard-tallow mixture and bone fat in digestion and growth experiments in calves]

Male calves between 15 and 26 days old and with a live weight between 45 and 46 kg received dried skim milk dissolved in water plus fat concentration from lard--suet mixtures made with a synthetic emulsifier of the type ethoxylated partial ester with and without soybean lecithin supplement. One group received bone fat with an emulsifier as sole fat component. In the course of 9 experiment weeks the calves of the lard--suet group without lecithin reached an average daily weight gain of 710 g, which was not significantly better than the gains of 689 g of the lard--suet group with lecithin and of 674 g of the bone fat group. The calves of the lard--suet group with lecithin did not digest the feed fat significantly better than the calves in the other two groups. The quota of fatty acids in the feed distinctly influenced the composition of the fatty acids in the intestines, the kidneys and the hypodermis. With the example of suet the general relationship between the fatty acid patterns of the feed and body fats are recognizable, with the fatty acids C 16:0, C 18:2 and C 18:3 having a lower and C 16:1, C 18:0 and C 18:1 having a higher quota in the suet than in the feed fat. Due to the application of high amounts of bone fat, vegetable oil or sea animal fat there are deviations from this rule. There is a higher quota of linolenic acid in the suet of the calves than in butter fat but a lower quota than in foreign fat.