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Buttermilk

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This datasheet is pending revision and updating; its contents are currently derived from FAO's Animal Feed Resources Information System (1991-2002) and from Bo Göhl's Tropical Feeds (1976-1982).

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Related feed(s) 
Description 

Buttermilk is the liquid product that is remaining after whole milk is churned.

Nutritional aspects
Nutritional attributes 

Normally it contains more fat than skim milk. It is more acidic and can have more of a laxative action. Applications of buttermilk in animal feeding systems have been described (Jensen, 1978).

Potential constraints 

Adequate heat treatment (pasteurization) should be applied to assure that all pathogenic organisms have been destroyed.

Ruminants 

Use of buttermilk in dairy calf feeding system have been extensively reviewed (Durrani, 1987). When buttermilk replace skim milk in the diets of calves no difference in performance was observed (Lettner et al., 1991). Performance in young lambs was increased when buttermilk was used to replace plant protein sources (Karvonen et al., 1980).

Pigs 

Buttermilk was found to be an excellent supplemental protein source for growing swine (Rodriguez et al., 1981). Average daily gain was improved in young growing swine when buttermilk replaced soybean meal (Christison, 1982). Gain was increased in pigs when buttermilk was added to their diet (Weckowicz et al., 1977). Sour buttermilk was found to be suitable to be used in feeding swine (Lettner et al., 1998).

Poultry 

Dried buttermilk was incorporated into starter (0, 3, 6, 9 %) and finisher (0, 1, 2, 3 %) broiler diets replacing either fish meal, soybean meal or sunflower meal and the best performance was at the 3 % in the starter and 1 % in the finisher incorporation rates (Petkova et al., 1976).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 
References
Datasheet citation 

DATASHEET UNDER CONSTRUCTION. DO NOT QUOTE. https://feedipedia.org/node/729 Last updated on October 9, 2011, 14:52

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