Investigation of Methods to Enhance the Efficiency of Canola Meal Use in Pelleted Calf Starter Mixtures and Comparisons with Other High-Protein by-Products*

	Treatments^a				SE^b	Main effect P-value
	LOW	LOW+	HIGH	HIGH+	SE^b	canola inclusion	enzyme	interaction
n	25	25	25	25
Initial age, days	17.7	17.4	17.6	18.0	0.42	0.45	0.92	0.41
Total serum protein, g/dL^c	6.61	6.52	6.46	6.37	0.158	0.26	0.50	0.96
Cumulative milk replacer intake, kg DM^c	51.9	52.1	52.3	52.3	0.19	0.16	0.75	0.66
Cumulative starter intake, kg DM^c	41.5	39.6	48.0	44.1	2.30	0.12	< 0.01	0.58
Initial BW, kg	44.6	44.5	44.4	44.5	1.09	0.90	0.99	0.92
Final BW, kg	97.2	99.9	96.9	99.7	1.78	0.82	0.05	0.91
ADG, g/day^c	843	881	836	879	27.5	0.81	0.04	0.91
Feed efficiency, g gain/kg DM^d	567	555	573	576	14.1	0.15	0.63	0.43
Fecal score^e	1.19	1.16	1.15	1.13	0.022	0.15	0.20	0.89
Diarrhea, days^f	1.30	1.08	1.23	0.67	0.203	0.16	0.04	0.27
Diarrhea, days^g	10.28	8.89	8.36	7.11	0.590	< 0.01	0.02	0.90
Diarrhea, n/calf	0.78	0.70	0.67	0.36	0.158	0.10	0.16	0.32
Medical treatments, n/calf	0.72	1.04	0.96	1.16	0.200	0.33	0.17	0.67

Initial age, BW, ADG, feed intake, feed efficiency and fecal score of calves – study 1

	Treatments^a			SE^b	Contrast P-value^c
	TSBM	TCM	TCML	SE^b	1	2
n	14	14	14
Initial age, days	24.0	24.1	24.3	0.86	0.39	0.49
BW, kg
day^d 1	44.4	44.2	45.6	1.49	0.70	0.38
day 49	82.2	81.0	82.1	2.48	0.82	0.73
day 70	110.5	106.6	108.6	3.23	0.43	0.63
ADG, g/day
day 1 to 49	762	755	743	38.5	0.76	0.81
day 50 to 70	1311	1222	1257	68.3	0.36	0.70
day 1 to 70	927	896	898	41.5	0.53	0.97
Milk replacer intake, g of powder/day
day 1 to 49	886	886	886	–	–	–
day 50 to 70	363	363	363	–	–	–
Starter intake, g DM/day
day 1 to 49^e	452	525	515	57.6	0.27	0.81
day 50 to 70^e	2408	2412	2487	126.8	0.71	0.76
day 1 to 70^e	1042	1093	1105	82.2	0.29	0.89
Feed efficiency, g gain/kg DM
day 1 to 49	583	549	548	22.7	0.06	0.95
day 50 to 70	500	460	463	14.8	0.01	0.81
day 1 to 70	543	507	508	10.8	< 0.01	0.94
Fecal score
day 1 to 49^e	1.17	1.13	1.19	0.034	0.84	0.20
day 50 to 70	1.05	1.08	1.05	0.025	0.72	0.41
day 1 to 70^e	1.29	1.11	1.14	0.026	0.95	0.38

Initial age, total serum protein, BW, ADG, feed intake, feed efficiency, fecal score and health indicators of calves – study 4

	Treatments^a				SE^b	Main effect P-value
	MC	HC	MEC	HEC	SE^b	inclusion	processing	interaction
n	29	30	30	29
Initial age, days	18.2	18.4	18.3	18.4	0.43	0.72	0.79	0.84
Total serum protein, g/dL	6.12	6.21	6.25	6.19	0.107	0.58	0.84	0.48
Cumulative milk replacer intake, kg DM	50.6	50.5	50.6	50.8	0.17	0.63	0.35	0.24
Cumulative starter intake, kg DM	39.4	35.1	39.7	39.2	3.31	0.31	0.34	0.42
Initial BW, kg	42.4	42.5	42.3	42.6	1.04	0.82	0.98	0.89
Final BW, kg	90.9	89.7	91.9	92.0	1.79	0.62	0.23	0.63
ADG, g/day^c	771	749	786	790	28.2	0.67	0.17	0.54
Feed efficiency, g gain/kg DM	542	553	553	557	9.46	0.37	0.32	0.63
Fecal score^c	1.09	1.09	1.07	1.06	0.014	0.63	0.10	0.53
Diarrhea, days^d	4.98	5.15	4.07	3.43	0.405	0.44	< 0.01	0.25
Diarrhea, days^e	0.58	0.68	0.70	0.48	0.148	0.61	0.72	0.23
Diarrhea, n/calf	0.38	0.50	0.43	0.23	0.118	0.56	0.28	0.13
Medical treatments, n/calf	0.043	0.010	0.028	0.040	310.1	0.15	0.22	0.02

Initial age, total serum protein, BW, ADG, feed intake, feed efficiency, fecal score and health indicators of calves – study 3

	Treatments^a				SE^b	Contrast P-value^c
	CTRL	TRBP	TRCM	TRCM+		1	2	3
n	30	30	30	30
Initial age, days	17.2	17.4	17.3	17.0	0.40	0.78	0.87	0.65
Total serum protein, g/dL^d	6.57	6.56	6.80	6.58	0.139	0.47	0.18	0.22
Cumulative milk replacer intake, kg DM	48.7	49.1	49.4	49.1	0.20	0.03	0.16	0.25
Cumulative starter intake, kg DM	42.1	40.2	39.6	40.0	2.86	0.38	0.84	0.90
Initial BW, kg	42.9	42.9	43.0	43.0	0.83	0.93	0.90	0.98
Final BW, kg	94.0	91.6	91.7	91.3	1.62	0.10	0.96	0.83
ADG, g/day^e	815	777	779	773	26.2	0.12	0.96	0.83
Feed efficiency, g gain/kg DM	566	550	557	550	10.3	0.15	0.53	0.49
Fecal score^c	1.31	1.26	1.23	1.25	0.234	< 0.01	0.36	0.54
Diarrhea, days^f^g	1.96	1.33	1.13	1.40	0.218	< 0.01	0.48	0.32
Diarrhea, days^h	18.0	15.2	13.5	14.8	0.73	< 0.01	0.09	0.21
Diarrhea, n/calf	1.09	0.87	0.56	0.87	0.167	0.05	0.15	0.15
Medical treatments, n/calf^d	0.47	0.60	0.61	0.78	0.145	0.38	0.95	0.37

Ingredient and chemical composition of pelleted starter mixtures (mean±standard deviation) – study 3

	Treatments^a
	CTRL	TRBP	TRCM	TRCM+
Ingredient (% as fed)
soybean meal	22.0	17.0	17.0	17.0
canola meal	–	–	7.5	7.5
wheat bran	5.0	9.0	5.0	5.0
DDGS	–	9.0	–	–
barley	27.72	12.97	20.47	20.37
corn	15.0	27.0	20.0	20.0
wheat	20.0	15.0	20.0	20.0
whey	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
mineral-vitamin supplement^b	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
glycerol	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
molasses	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
monocalcium phosphate	0.25	–	–	–
limestone	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
sodium chloride	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
aroma	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03
enzyme^c	–	–	–	0.1
Chemical composition^d
DM, g/kg	891±1.0	896±4.3	893±1.0	891±3.3
ash, g/kg DM	75±0.2	74±1.3	73±1.5	77±0.4
crude protein, g/kg DM	195±4.6	196±7.6	191±2.5	192±0.2
aNDF, g/kg DM	143±3.3	163±5.9	152±0.6	145±2.1
ADF, g/kg DM	64±0.7	66±2.5	70±2.4	67±1.6
starch, g/kg DM	451±0.4	446±2.1	443±1.7	445±6.9

Ingredient and chemical composition of pelleted starter mixtures (mean±standard deviation) – study 4

	Treatments^a
	MC	HC	MEC	HEC
Ingredient (% as fed)
canola meal	24.0	34.0	–	–
extruded canola meal	–	–	24.0	34.0
soybean meal	7.0	–	7.0	–
barley grain	15.71	13.0	15.71	13.0
corn grain	22.0	22.0	22.0	22.0
wheat	20.0	20.0	20.0	20.0
wheat bran	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
molasses	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
mineral-vitamin supplement^b	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
monocalcium phosphate	0.25	–	0.25	–
limestone	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
sodium chloride	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7
aroma	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
magnesium oxide	0.4	–	0.4	–
Chemical composition^c
DM	875±2.8	877±1.2	878±4.6	879±4.5
ash, g/kg DM	75±5.2	71±2.8	75±1.9	75±1.1
crude protein, g/kg DM	231±3.7	225±3.7	212±7.8	230±5.9
aNDF, g/kg DM	140±6.6	169±12.2	140±15.0	151±18.5
ADF, g/kg DM	54±18.1	72±7.4	78±34.8	94±37.1
starch, g/kg DM	385±22.1	349±27.8	377±20.0	346±13.0

Ingredient and chemical composition of pelleted starter mixtures (mean±standard deviation) – study 1

	Treatments^a
	TSBM	TCM	TCML

1	2	3	4
Ingredient, % in feed
soybean meal	18.00	–	–
canola meal	–	26.00	26.00
barley	32.67	25.47	25.31
corn	30.00	30.00	30.00
wheat bran	10.00	10.00	10.00
glycerin	3.00	3.00	3.00
molasses	1.00	1.00	1.00
whey	1.00	1.00	1.00
limestone	2.00	2.00	2.00
salt	0.50	0.50	0.50
monocalcium phosphate	0.80	–	–
mineral-vitamin	1.00	1.00	1.00
supplement^b
aroma	0.03	0.03	0.03
L-lysine	–	–	0.16
Chemical composition^c
DM, g/kg	901±0.8	897±1.2	897±1.0
ash, g/kg DM	85±1.3	78±0.8	79±2.1
crude protein, g/kg DM	206±1.9	188±2.8	196±2.9
fat, g/kg DM	28±0.4	31±0.2	30±0.9
aNDF, g/kg DM	161±0.9	190±5.4	195±2.1
ADF, g/kg DM	68±1.7	97±4.6	110±7.5
Amino acid, g/kg DM
Ala	7.8±0.1	7.1±0.2	7.2±0.2
Arg	14.8±1.4	11.9±1.2	12.2±1.9
Asp	16.1±0.2	11.9±0.2	12.0±0.9
Cys	2.7±0.2	3.0±0.2	3.2±0.2
Glu+Gln	34.3±0.7	30.5±0.2	30.8±0.9
Gly	7.6±0.1	7.3±0.2	7.7±0.2
His	4.8±0.3	4.5±0.1	4.6±0.1
Ile	6.7±0.1	5.7±0.1	5.9±0.2
Leu	13.7±0.3	12.1±0.3	12.4±0.3
Lys	8.6±0.2	7.4±0.2	9.2±0.4
Met	2.5 ±0.1	2.6 ±0.1	2.9 ±0.1
Phe	8.3±0.1	6.7±0.2	7.0±0.1
Pro	11.3±0.2	11.3±0.1	11.8±0.2
Ser	6.8±0.2	6.1±0.5	3.1±0.1
Thr	6.0±0.2	5.9±0.3	6.1±0.2
Tyr	5.1±0.4	4.9±0.1	5.0±0.2
Val	9.4 ±0.2	8.8±0.2	9.1±0.2
Lys/Met	3.44	2.85	3.20

Ingredient and chemical composition of pelleted starter mixtures (mean±standard deviation) – study 2

	Treatments^a
	LOW	LOW+	HIGH	HIGH+
Ingredient (% as fed)
canola meal	10.0	10.0	32.0	32.0
soybean meal	14.0	14.0	–	–
barley grain	25.97	25.87	10.97	10.87
corn grain	15.5	15.5	22.0	22.0
wheat	16.0	16.0	19.0	19.0
wheat bran	8.0	8.0	6.0	6.0
whey protein (dry)	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
mineral-vitamin	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
supplement^b
glycerol	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
molasses	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
monocalcium	0.5	0.5	–	–
phosphate
limestone	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
sodium chloride	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
aroma	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03
enzyme^c	–	0.1	–	0.1
Chemical composition^d
DM, g/kg	897±1.9	895±2.8	895±1.8	893±2.3
ash, g/kg DM	77±2.3	78±2.5	78±2.1	76±3.8
crude protein, g/kg DM	191±3.3	180±1.7	184±10.0	188±11.0
aNDF, g/kg DM	153±11.1	155±9.0	184±8.6	182±6.0
ADF, g/kg DM	69±3.0	72±5.1	105±2.6	106±3.3
starch, g/kg DM	442±0.8	441±3.3	407±1.1	401±1.3

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2025-0074 | Journal eISSN: 2300-8733 | Journal ISSN: 1642-3402

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Language: English

Page range: 605 - 620

Submitted on: Dec 18, 2024

Accepted on: Jun 17, 2025

Published on: Apr 15, 2026

Published by: National Research Institute of Animal Production

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: Volume open

Keywords:

lysine,

Related subjects:

Zoology,

© 2026 Paweł Górka, Klaudia Krupa, Marcin Podżorski, Marcin Przybyło, Jarosław Kański, Zygmunt M. Kowalski, Adam Stępień, Katarzyna Burakowska, Gregory B. Penner, Anna Rogiewicz, Rob Patterson, published by National Research Institute of Animal Production
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 26 (2026): Issue 2 (April 2026)