When you think of coconut oil, the first things that pop into your mind might be suntan lotion or hair conditio ner. But coconut oil also can play an important role in preweaned calf nutrition.

Mother Nature produces butterfat for cows to feed their calves. But when we formulate milk replacer, using butterfat would be cost-prohibitive. Virtually all of the dairy fat in the marketplace goes to feeding humans, in the form of butter, cheese, whipping cream and other food products.

The goal, then, is to find a fat source that is both affordable, and closely mimics the nutritional profile of whole milk. Butterfat is 95-97% digestible by the calf. Well-homogenized tallow and lard—two common fat sources used in milk replacer manufacturing for decades—are not utilized by the calf to the same degree. The digestibility for tallow is about 84-95%; lard can range from 88-96%.

Over those same historic decades, the feeding rate of milk replacer was relatively modest. The most common diet was 2 quarts of 20:20 milk replacer twice a day. This meant we were feeding about one pound of total powder daily, less than a quarter of which was fat. So losing a small percentage of digestibility of a relatively scant amount of fat per day was not necessarily critical.

Our feeding methods have changed, however, as many dairy replacements now are raised using much higher milk replacer feeding rates. Now, if we’re feeding 2.5 pounds of powder each day, more than a 1/2 to 3/4 pound of fat per day is going into every calf. Losing 10% or more of that fat as undigested waste becomes a much greater concern.

At Strauss Feeds, our veal industry roots make us experienced in the intricacies of feeding calves high-volume milk rations. Because veal calves may consume up to 7 pounds of 18% fat powder per day, we’ve long adopted dietary formulations that maximize the calves’ use of those nutrients.

That’s where coconut oil comes in.

What’s so great about coconut oil?

Coconut oil is one of the few plant fat sources that is solid at room temperature. That makes its physical form a viable choice as a milk replacer ingredient. On its own, coconut oil would make a poor choice for milk replacer. But, when blended with lard or tallow, it fills in the gaps of fatty acids that those fat sources do not contain.

Butterfat contains a wide span of fatty acids in the medium- and long-chain range (C-10 to C-18). Tallow and lard are high in long-chain fatty acids (C-16 and C-18) but deficient in the medium-range ones. Coconut oil happens to be very high in medium-chain fatty acids (C-8 to C-12). When coconut oil is combined with lard or tallow, it’s like fitting two puzzle pieces together. In tandem, they create a fatty acid profile very similar to that of butterfat. In the right formulation, they can build a fat blend that is consistently more than 98% digestible by calves. 

We have blended coconut oil into our veal rations for many years, with excellent results. Seeing the benefits of this fat source first-hand, we also have the expertise to formulate it into other calf milk replacer products. What’s more, a new spray dryer system at our Indiana plant now allows us to process all of our own protein-encapsulated fat products, so that we are confident in the quality and consistency of every batch of fat blend.

Incorporating coconut oil into our products allows us to deliver a more digestible, nutritious liquid ration to you and the animals you raise. It’s one more way we strive to maximize both value and nutrition in every pound of milk replacer you feed.

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