139. A Comparison between Blood Meal and Wheat Gluten as a Supplement to a Low-Protein Diet for Dairy Cows

Abstract

1. A ration for dairy cows which supplied less protein than the recognized protein standards for milk production and contained less lysine than most rations normally used in English farming practice was selected. A comparison was then made between cows receiving this ration supplemented with (a) wheat gluten, a lysine-poor protein, and (b) blood meal, a lysine-rich protein. The addition of blood meal produced no measurable effect on the milk yields, but there was a small and almost significant advantage in the live weights of the cows.2. In a subsidiary experiment a large increase in the dietary protein produced a very small and non-significant increase in milk yield.