Milk proteins for artificially reared piglets: II. Comparison to a skim milk hydrolysate.

Peptonized milk, a t rypt ic digest of skim milk, proved unacceptable as a protein source for artificially reared piglets. When this product was substi tuted for dried skim milk, rate and efficiency of gain were sharply decreased and incidence and severity of diarrhea markedly increased. Rectal temperature was decreased. The difference in nutritiona~ adequacy of the diets, measured by a chick growth study, was not nearly sufficient to explain the differences in piglet performance. Therefore, these results support the hypothesis that some component(s) of milk is important to the piglet for reasons other than classical nutrient content. (