Milk replacer composition and method

Abstract

Improved milk replacer and dry feed compositions for young mammals are provided that employ a high quality inedible egg product to minimize or eliminate the need for milk source ingredients. These improved compositions include one or more high quality inedible egg products in an amount from about 1% to 100% of the total weight of the composition. The balance of these improved compositions may consist of any ingredient(s) in any combination when such composition is capable of meeting or exceeding the nutritional requirements of the species to be fed. One aspect of the present invention provides a method for producing a high quality inedible egg product. This invention also provides an improved diet program wherein a young mammal is initially fed a milk replacer according to the present invention, and then when it is time to wean the animal of the milk replacer, a dry feed according to the present invention is introduced. This improved diet program allows a caretaker to wean the young mammal quickly with no deleterious effects in terms of the health or growth of the mammal. Animals fed these improved compositions benefit from a significant reduction in the incidence of disease and a significant increase in the rate of weight gain compared to young mammals fed prior art milk replacer formulations.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to synthesized foodstuffs for young mammals and more particularly to milk replacer and dry feed compositions containing high quality inedible egg products as the main ingredient and to the method of producing such milk replacer and dry feed compositions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that in the early stages of life for a mammal, mother's milk is the ideal source of nutrition. Unfortunately for many young mammals, whether by tragedy or by economic necessity, as in the case of animals whose milk is commercially valuable, mother's milk is not always available. In these instances, the use of a milk replacing composition is required.

There exist many formulations for foodstuffs for neo-natal animals that incorporate dried milk products and vitamin and mineral supplements. The common feature of these prior art compositions is that they derive most of their protein content from a milk source ingredient such as skim milk, buttermilk, whole whey, delactosed whey, casein, milk albumin, and/or whey protein concentrate. Milk source ingredients are used extensively in traditional milk replacers because the existing health data relating to young mammals fed milk replacer diets based on non-milk source ingredients is poor. That is, animals fed with prior art milk replacers having protein sources other than milk proteins are known to suffer from protein deficiencies that can potentially result in debilitating illnesses. This data suggests that only milk-based milk replacers can be used to obtain a healthy young animal.

Conventional milk-based replacers suffer from a number of drawbacks, however. One such drawback relates to the high cost of milk source ingredients. This cost issue presents the conundrum that, while milk replacer compositions are designed to obviate the need for milk in those cases when the mother's milk is commercially important, the milk replacer composition still must use some amount of milk products in order to keep a young animal healthy.

Additionally, previous milk replacer composition formulas are not designed with the transition from milk to solid food in mind. This fact makes it difficult to wean animals fed with these prior art compositions from the liquid diet. If the young animal will not eat solid food right away, the costs of raising the animal increase significantly. This is because prior art milk replacers are more expensive than “adult” diets and must be hand fed. The most glaring drawback of prior art milk replacers, however, is that they are not nutritionally equivalent to, much less superior to, the mother's milk, so young animals fed these diets frequently fail to thrive and are left susceptible to disease.

In the case of dairy calves, this susceptibility to disease is an acute and persistent problem and manifests itself most frequently in the form of a disease known as “scours” or diarrhea. Calf scours causes more financial loss to herdsmen than any other disease-related problem they encounter. Because the problem of scours is so prevalent, many attempts have been made to formulate a feed supplement that minimizes the incidence of scours. These previous efforts include, among others, the addition of pregelatinized starch, optimizing the ratio of casein to whey proteins, forming soluble gels of dairy by-products, and using treated legumes to form protein and starch digestion products from which a feed may be manufactured.

These latter formulations provide some relief from the scours problem, but do not eliminate it, nor do they work particularly well to put weight on the young animal. As well, once a calf on a prior art diet gets scours, the farmer will have to administer expensive antibiotics and/or feed supplements that may or may not save the animal's life. This is because most, if not all, prior art milk replacer compositions cannot be fed to an animal with scours because they are so nutritionally deficient that they would only increase the animal's problem. These prior art compositions therefore leave significant room for improvement.

Some prior art milk replacer compositions have attempted to use eggs and/or modified egg products as the protein component. Because these prior art compositions employ a low quality and/or chemically modified egg fraction, however, these compositions are not able to equal or outperform milk protein-based compositions in terms of young animal weight gain and overall health of the young animal. Examples of these compositions can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,268 to Cardon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,874 to Jungvid, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,643,622 and 5,656,309 to Sawhill, and European Patent No. 426,211 to Carrell et al.

This prior art leaves room for improvement in terms of composition, manufacturing method, and feeding method. The present invention is addressed to such improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to food compositions for young mammals that consist essentially of a high quality inedible egg product or products in an amount from about 1% to 100% by weight and comprise at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of milk products, cereal grain or cereal grain products, fruit pectin, other carbohydrates, fiber, fat, urea, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, yeast, and other animal or vegetable protein sources as the balance of the composition. The food composition may be dry or liquid and may be pelletized or unpelletized. If the food composition is liquid, or if it is dry and made liquid by the addition of water or other ingredients, then it may be used as a milk replacer. If the food composition is not liquid or not made so by the addition of liquid ingredients, it may be used as a first solid food for a young mammal. A preferred method of feeding the instant food compositions comprises feeding the milk replacer composition first, then transitioning the young mammal to the first solid food composition.

The provision of high quality inedible egg in the combinations of the present invention imparts desirable antimicrobial activity and a desirable amino acid profile to the foodstuffs. These food compositions allow a young mammal to enjoy levels of health and growth at least equivalent to those that it would enjoy if it were raised on its mother's milk. Also, by providing a first solid food composition that is similar in formulation to the milk replacer on which an animal is raised, animals may be weaned more quickly from the liquid diet and substantial labor savings in terms of food preparation and hand feeding may be enjoyed thereby.

These and other objects, advantages, and features are accomplished according to the compositions and methods of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURE

The FIGURE is a graph of the average daily weight gain of calves fed the composition of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the preferred embodiments thereof, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations, modifications, and further applications of the principles of the invention being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Before proceeding further, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that any young mammal that requires easily digested nutrients as a replacement for mother's milk and/or that would benefit from supplemental nutrition during the early stages of its life will benefit from being fed the diet program as hereinafter more fully described. It is therefore intended that the scope of the present invention include and comprise diet programs adapted to meet the nutritional requirements of any such young mammal. This is so regardless of the fact that the majority of the following description discusses the present invention in terms of particular formulations for and the benefits of feeding these formulations to young calves.

The present invention concerns the use of a high quality inedible egg product as a primary source of protein, and in the most preferred embodiment as a primary source of nutrition, in a diet for young animals. Therefore, one aspect of the present invention concerns a method of manufacturing a high quality inedible egg product.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the high quality inedible egg product is used in a liquid milk replacer. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the high quality inedible egg product is used in a dry feed for use as a first solid food for a young animal. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a diet program for young animals comprising a milk replacer composition and a dry feed wherein the milk replacer composition is fed to the young animals first, then the dry feed is offered to the young animals during the weaning stage of development, and finally the dry feed becomes the young animals' first solid foodstuff.

The high quality inedible egg product that forms the basis of all the preferred diet compositions of the present invention begins with “inedible” eggs. Inedible eggs are defined to include those whole raw eggs, hard boiled eggs, egg yolks, egg albumen, and all other liquid or dry egg fractions that the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) has mandated cannot be used in human foods or for human consumption. Often the eggs that become inedible eggs are cracked, dirty, or misshapen. The term “inedible egg product” as used with this invention broadly encompasses any and all types of inedible eggs to which a dye has been added in conformance with USDA requirements.

The high quality of the inedible egg products contemplated for use with the present invention is obtained by employing the following method. Eggs destined to become inedible eggs are obtained, the shells broken, and a denaturant dye added to clearly show that the product is not for human consumption. Those of skill in the art will understand what classes of compounds may be used as the denaturant dye without affecting the nutritional analysis or makeup of the inedible egg. Next, the eggshells are removed by centrifuging the liquid egg through a filter, or by any other method known or contemplated for accomplishing the removal of shell debris from liquid egg.

The liquid egg obtained thereby is then held in refrigerated storage tanks at a temperature of about 45° F. or less until it can be delivered to the heat-pasteurizing unit, but preferably for not longer than about five days. Once the liquid egg is in the pasteurizer, it is heated to a temperature of at least 140° F. and held at that temperature for at least 4.5 minutes in order to kill all pathogenic and spoilage-inducing microorganisms. Again, those of skill in the art will recognize that the removal and/or growth inhibition of pathogenic and spoilage-inducing microorganisms may be accomplished by methods other than heat treatment, and such methods are intended and contemplated to come within the meaning of the term “heat pasteurizing” as it is used with the present invention.

At this point in the present manufacturing method, the manufacturer decides whether the inedible egg product will remain liquid or will be dried to produce a powder. If it is to remain liquid, the egg product is either packaged immediately or returned to a refrigerated storage tank until it can be packaged in an airtight and watertight container. If it is to become a dry inedible egg product, then the inedible egg product is either spray dried immediately or returned to a refrigerated storage tank until it can be spray dried.

The inedible egg product may then be spray dried without any additives according to those procedures known in the art of spray drying, or a free-flow or anti-caking agent may be added to the inedible egg product to prevent the formation of hard lumps in storage and then the egg product and free-flow agent spray dried. Most preferably, the moisture level of the resultant dry inedible egg product is between about 2 and about 5 percent.

Those of skill in the art will recognize that the use of a spray dryer is particularly desirable in that it minimizes damage to the proteins contained in the inedible egg product and therefore yields a very high quality inedible egg product. This dry inedible egg product may then be packaged in airtight and watertight containers for shipment and sale.

In the most preferred embodiments of this invention, whole inedible eggs are used to manufacture the high quality inedible egg product in order to obtain the full nutritional and flavor values possessed by whole eggs. The present high quality inedible egg product may be provided in a liquid or a dried form. The liquid form is preferably refrigerated during storage, although those of skill in the art will recognize that room temperature storage may be accomplished by methods known in the art such as chemical preservation and/or canning. Also, the liquid form may be blended with other preferred ingredients for convenience in storage, preparation, and feeding. The dried form does not require refrigeration during dry storage. The dried form may be reconstituted with water or other suitable liquid ingredients to form a liquid milk replacer according to the present invention, and it may also be dry blended with other preferred ingredients for convenience in storage, preparation, and feeding.

A preferred liquid milk replacer embodiment of the present invention comprises the high quality inedible egg product in an amount from about 1% to 100% by weight of the composition. The high quality inedible egg ingredient is typically present in the milk replacer in the range of about 25% to 100% by weight, and more preferably from 36% to 65% by weight.

A preferred dry feed embodiment of the present invention comprises the high quality inedible egg product in an amount from about 1% to 100% by weight of the composition. The high quality inedible egg ingredient is typically present in the feed in the range of about 25% to 100% by weight, and more preferably from 36% to 65% by weight.

The balance of the present inventive milk replacer and dry feed compositions, when those compositions comprise less than 100% high quality inedible egg product, may consist of any desired ingredients in any desired combination capable of supplying the nutritional requirements of a young mammal, including, but not limited to, milk products, cereal grain or cereal grain products, fruit pectin, other carbohydrates, fiber, fat, urea, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, yeast, and other animal or vegetable protein sources.

As herein employed, the term “milk products” refers to and includes fluids secreted by the mammary glands of lactating female animals for the nourishment of their young and all fractions thereof and products derived therefrom. By way of example, and not of limitation, some milk products contemplated by and intended to come within the scope of the present invention include skim milk, buttermilk, whole whey, delactosed whey, casein, milk albumin, whey protein concentrate, whey permeates, whey sweet water, raw milk, powdered milk, and curd.

The term “cereal grain or cereal grain products” as used herein refers to the seeds or fruits of various food plants including the cereal grasses and other plants such as the soybean, and non-byproduct fractions and derivatives thereof. By way of example, and not of limitation, some cereal grains contemplated for use with the compositions of the present invention include oats, barley, wheat, corn, cottonseed, flax, hops, rice, rye, safflower seed, sunflower seed, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, buckwheat, and broomcorn.

“Other carbohydrates” as used in the present description describes a class of compounds formed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen that is capable of providing an easily digested ready source of energy to an animal. The present invention contemplates the use of any compound meeting the above description that is suitable for use in an animal feed, including complex sugars derived from various sources; simple sugars such as dextrose, fructose, galactose, and glucose; molasses; and starch. The foregoing list is provided for purposes of example only, and no limitation of the scope of the present invention is intended thereby.

The term “fiber” as used with the present invention refers to various food byproducts that provide an animal with roughage that is beneficial for the animal's digestive tract. Useful fibers can be brans, hulls, shells, or screenings of grains, seeds, or nuts. Screenings are obtained from cleaning grain and seeds, and include light and broken grains, agricultural seeds, weed seeds, hulls, chaff, straw, milldust, sand, and dirt. Some examples of other fiber sources include oat hulls, almond hulls, barley mill run, bean hulls, peanut skins, rice hulls, peanut hulls, nutshells, grape pomace, oat shorts, wheat shorts, wheat middlings, flax hulls, and soybean mill run. Again, these particular fiber sources are provided as examples only, and no limitation of the scope of the present invention is intended.

“Fat” refers to and describes any animal-edible compound capable of supplying the animal with a substantial amount of energy upon digestion of the compound. Some examples of useful fats include edible fats and oils from animal and vegetable sources such as mono-, di-, or tri-glycerides of various fatty acids such as stearic, palmitic, oleic, linoleic, lauric, and others. Animal-edible fats and oils can also include complex lipids such as phospholipids including fatty acid esters of glycerol phosphate or lecithin. Other fats that may be used include the oils, tailings or residues of soybean oil, corn oil, tallow, fish oil, coconut oil, palm oil, reclaimed restaurant fats and greases, acidulated soap stocks, and acidulated fats and oils. The foregoing list is provided for purposes of example only, and no limitation of the scope of the present invention is intended thereby.

The term “electrolytes” as used herein refers to a class of chemicals that will provide ionic conductivity when dissolved in water or when placed in contact with water. Suitable examples of this class of compounds include sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and calcium carbonate. These particular electrolyte sources are provided as examples only, and no limitation of the scope of the present invention is intended.

The term “vitamin” as used herein refers to and includes all those organic compounds that are known to be essential to and/or used by animals to help regulate their metabolic processes but do not provide energy or serve as building units. As examples, the better known members of this class include vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, and vitamin P. Many premixes of essential vitamins are available commercially for use in feeds for various animal species, including Microvit™ sold by Rhone-Poulenc Animal Nutrition and Custom Premixes sold by Animal Science Products. These particular vitamins and vitamin sources are provided as examples only, and no limitation of the scope of the present invention is intended.

“Minerals” when used herein describes and includes those inorganic compounds, whether natural or synthesized, that are required by animals to carry out and/or regulate their metabolic processes. Various examples of important mineral sources for animals include manganese, iodine, zinc, copper, cobalt, and iron compounds, and mineral salts such as dicalcium and tricalcium phosphate and monoammonium phosphate. Those of skill in the art of animal nutrition will recognize that, although the precise desired mineral source for a particular application is not listed above, the present invention nonetheless contemplates the inclusion of such desired mineral source.

“Yeast” as used herein refers to any animal-edible unicellular organism belonging to the family Saccharomycetaceae. One particularly popular source of yeast for animal feeds is dried brewer's yeast. Again, the present invention contemplates and intends that all organisms, however prepared, meeting the foregoing definition come within the scope of this invention.

The present description uses the term “animal or vegetable protein sources” to mean and include animal-edible nitrogen sources. Examples of suitable protein ingredients include dried blood and meat meal from rendering plants, cottonseed meal, soybean meal, rapeseed meal, canola meal, sunflower meal, dehydrated alfalfa, dried and sterilized animal and poultry manure, fish meal, fish solubles, cell cream, corn gluten meal, feather meal, dried brewer's grains, and distiller's dried grains. As with all the foregoing definitions, the present recitation of examples is for the skilled artisan's reference only, and no limitation on the scope of the present invention is intended by the inclusion of these specific examples.

Preferably, the balance of the present milk replacer and dry feed compositions comprises whey, corn, vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes. In the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, the dry feed is tailored more specifically to the needs of the particular species of young animal to be fed and is pelletized for greater nutrient availability and palatability. The preferred embodiments of the milk replacer composition do not have to be tailored to the particular species, and therefore they may be formulated to have the same or highly similar compositions across species lines.

While the foregoing constitutes a general description of the dietary compositions of the present invention, the following are specific examples of preferred compositions according to the present invention. The specific examples are provided for purposes of illustrating the invention and no limitations on the invention are intended thereby.

A preferred embodiment of the milk replacer composition of the present invention has the following formulation:

                           Percentage by
Ingredient                 Weight
Dried Inedible Egg Product 60.00
Dried Whey                 30.00
Ground Yellow Corn         8.75
Vitamin Premix             0.15
Vitamin E                  0.05
Trace Minerals             0.05
Calcium carbonate          1.00
Total                      100.00

A preferred embodiment of the dry feed composition of the present invention for use with dairy calves has the following formulation:

Ingredient                 Percentage
Dried Inedible Egg Product 36.00
Dried Whey                 12.50
Ground Yellow Corn         50.25
Vitamin Premix             0.15
Vitamin E                  0.05
Trace Minerals             0.05
Calcium carbonate          1.00
Total                      100.00

As discussed above, the raising of calves on a traditional milk replacer is difficult for the herdsman as currently available formulated products are not nutritionally equivalent to the mother's milk, a great deal of labor is necessary to hand feed the animals, and the young animals frequently fail to thrive on these nutritionally deficient products. In contrast to these problems experienced with prior art milk replacers, milk replacer compositions according to the present invention yield an increased survival rate, an increased rate of growth, and increased overall well being of young animals over that of animals fed a conventional milk replacer diet. In addition, young animals fed the present milk replacer composition transfer more quickly to solid feed, thereby reducing the overall labor required by the caretaker, including food preparation time and hand feeding.

The following table and the FIGURE demonstrate the ability of the milk replacer compositions of the present invention to significantly increase the growth rates of animals fed these compositions over the growth rates experienced by animals fed a conventional milk replacer. As used in the following table and FIGURE, the term “Egg” refers to and is intended to comprise the milk replacer composition embodiments of the present invention, and the “Pelleted Dry Feed Composition” term refers to and comprises the dry feed composition embodiments of the instant invention.

TABLE 1.
Growth and Performance of Calves Fed Formula in 2 Quarts Water
Plus a Pelleted Dry Feed Composition (Free Choice) for 18 Days
				Average
				Daily
		Weight	Weight	Gain	ADG
	Calf	at	at	(per	(by
Formula	number	start	finish	calf)	group)
8 ounces (oz) Egg + 1.5	2	85	98	0.72
oz Lecithin	3	95	114	1.06	0.89
4 oz Egg + 4 oz	10	87	103	0.89
conventional milk	11	95	103	0.44	0.67
replacer (CMR)
7 oz Egg + 1.5 oz	4	87	98	0.61
CMR + 1.5 oz	5	98	108	0.56	0.58
Lecithin
4 oz Egg + 4 oz	7	75	85	0.56
CMR + 1 T Lecithin	8	80	90	0.56
	9	72	76	0.22	0.44
8 oz CMR	1	82	83	0.06
	6	105	88	−0.94
	12	105	106	0.06
	13	87	99	0.67
	14	71	89	1.00
	15	75	91	0.89	0.29

These improvements in animal health and growth rates are directly attributable to the nutritional profile of high quality inedible egg products according to the present invention. Fresh eggs are known to be a rich source of high quality protein. The egg white or albumen has a very high biological value in the amount and balance of amino acids. Egg albumen is frequently used as a reference to compare proteins from other sources when feeding animals such as the rat, mouse, chick, and others. The amino acid composition of whole hen's egg is used as the recommended profile for the Food and Agriculture Organization's (1965) chemical score for required amino acids in protein (Galyean and Cotteril, 1995). High quality inedible egg products also contain various naturally occurring compounds with antimicrobial activity including, but not limited to, lysozyme that acts to hydrolyze β(1-4) glycosidic bonds in bacterial cell walls; ovotransferrin that acts to chelate Fe3+, Cu3+, Mn2+, Co2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, and Ni2+ to thereby render the minerals unavailable to bacteria until released by digestion of protein; avidin known to bind biotin thereby rendering it unavailable to bacteria until released by digestion of protein; ovoflavoprotein known to bind riboflavin thereby rendering it unavailable to bacteria until released by digestion of protein; and ovomucoid known to inhibit the action of various enzymes.

There is a considerable reduction in the number of cases of diarrhea when young animals are fed the instant milk replacer invention. This reduction is due in large part to the beneficial antimicrobial compounds found in the high quality inedible egg fraction. A positive lowering of the pH in the stomach at an early age has also been observed. A low pH in the stomach is important to stop unsuitable bacteria from passing through the stomach whereupon it may cause diarrhea.

The following table demonstrates the ability of the milk replacer embodiment of the present invention to not only prevent diseases such as scours in calves, but to actually cure the calf of scours once an animal has contracted this disease.

TABLE 2.
Health of Calves Fed Egg Diet and/or Conventional Milk Replacer
Group	A	B	C	D
# in Group	10	9	6	8
Colostrum	2 × daily	2 × daily	2 × daily	2 × daily
	for 3 days	for 3 days	for 3 days	for 3 days
Conventional			2 × daily
Milk Replacer			for 4 days
Scours @ 7	No Scours	No Scours	6	No Scours
days
Liquid Egg Diet	2 × daily	2 × daily	2 × daily	2 × daily
	for 11 days	for 11 days	for 7 days	for 11 days
Scours @ 14	No Scours	No Scours	No Scours	No Scours
days

Conventional milk replacers cannot prevent, much less cure, an animal of diarrhea once an animal has contracted the disease. The general health of calves fed the milk replacer composition of the present invention is excellent as shown by the total lack of scours in the foregoing results. Additionally, the fact that calves that did develop scours were promptly cured when changed to the milk replacer of the present invention demonstrates the significant advantages to the herdsman of feeding the instant invention.

Similarly, it has been observed that calves fed the pelletized feed of the present invention are healthier and put on weight faster than their conventionally fed counterparts. This is especially true when the diet program embodiment of the present invention is employed.

The diet program embodiment of the present invention provides young animals with sources of nutrition that yield significant growth and health improvements over conventional milk replacer and dry feed diets, as is demonstrated by the following data. In the experiment from which this data was collected, one group of young calves was fed a diet program according to the present invention and a control group of calves was fed a conventional milk replacer formula known as liquid milk replacer sold by Wayne Feeds according to the following schedule.

TABLE 3.
Application of Inventive Diet Program
Age	Formula	Frequency
0 to 2 days	Mother's colostrum	2 to 3 times per day
	ad libitum
3 to 14 days	8 ounces dry egg in	2 times per day
	2 quarts water
At 5 to 7 days	Pelleted egg feed	Free choice
	plus grains
At about 7 to 8 days		Reduce to morning feeding
At about 12 to 14 days		Wean from liquid feed
At about 3 weeks	Increase grain feed	Free choice
At about 6 weeks	Change to	Free choice
	conventional diet

The following table illustrates the significant difference in growth rates between calves fed the instant diet program versus those fed a conventional milk replacer.

TABLE 4.
Weight (pounds) of Young Calves Fed Inventive Diet Program
Compared with Weight of Young Calves Fed
Conventional Milk Replacer
	Group	A	B
	Treatment	Fed Egg Diet	Control Diet	Difference
	2 days of age	80	80	—
	63 days of age	280	175	105

This substantially increased rate of weight gain could not be expected based on the teachings of the prior art. The rapid weight gain caused by feeding the present inventive compositions increases yields and decreases operating costs to the herdsman compared with traditional diet and husbandry methods.

An additional benefit of the dry feed formula of the present invention concerns the efficiency with which the instant formulas may be pelletized. The inedible egg fraction contained in the dry formula being pelleted serves as an excellent lubricant for the pelletizing apparatus. This makes the pelletizing equipment much more efficient than it is when pelletizing conventional dry food formulations because it allows the pelletizing equipment to operate with a much lower power demand. This lower power demand decreases manufacturing costs for pelletized feed, and results again in a benefit to the herdsman of decreased feed costs for his or her animals. This also is an unexpected benefit of using high quality inedible egg products in a diet program for young animals.

Furthermore, the sugar content in the whey fraction of the preferred pelleted feed embodiments imparts desirable flavor and texture characteristics to the pellets that are formed. Pellets manufactured according to the present invention are firmer and hold together better than traditional dry pellet formulations including whey.

Those of skill in the art will recognize that all feeding programs incorporating diet compositions according to the present invention must be devised to meet the developmental needs of the particular species being fed. Therefore, it is irrelevant what ingredients comprise the balance of feeds containing less than 100% high quality inedible egg, so long as those ingredients meet the nutritional requirements of the young animal for which the feed is intended. It is also irrelevant to the present invention when the skilled artisan decides to offer solid food to the young animal to begin the weaning process, and it is irrelevant from which types of inedible egg the high quality inedible egg product is derived. What is relevant is that the various embodiments of the present invention are formulated to yield healthy young animals that grow quickly.

When young animals are fed the instant diet embodiments, whether or not the instant diet program is used, the antimicrobial compounds and nutritive components present in the liquid or dry inedible egg fraction minimize or eliminate the need to feed drugs to the animals, and thereby minimize or eliminate the significant costs presently associated with treating diseases in these animals. These compounds and nutritive components are also capable of curing certain microbe-caused diseases. Further, both the liquid and dry foodstuffs have an excellent amino acid profile, constitute rich sources of high quality protein, and are easy to digest. It is easy to pelletize compositions including a high quality inedible egg fraction because the egg lubricates the machinery and reduces power consumption of the pelletizing apparatus. Newborn animals fed compositions according to the present invention put on weight faster, have an increased survival rate, and will convert more quickly to solid food than animals fed a prior art feed composition.

While the invention has been described in detail in the foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described, and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.

Claims

1. An egg-based food composition for young mammals, consisting essentially of, by weight:high quality inedible egg from about 1% to 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance.

2. The egg-based food composition of claim 1, wherein said composition consists essentially of, by weight:high quality inedible eggfrom about 55% to about 65%;wheyfrom about 25% to about 35%;cornfrom about 7.75% to about 9.75%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

3. The egg-based food composition of claim 1, wherein said composition consists essentially of, by weight:high quality inedible eggfrom about 25% to about 45%;wheyfrom about 7.5% to about 17.5%;cornfrom about 40% to about 60%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

4. A method of increasing the growth rate of young mammals comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based milk replacer for a young mammal, consisting essentially of, by weight: high quality inedible egg from about 1% to 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance; and feeding said egg-based milk replacer to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may be weaned from said egg-based milk replacer; wherein said egg-based milk replacer encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

5. The method according to claim 4, and further comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based dry feed for a young mammal, consisting essentially of, by weight: high quality inedible egg from about 1% to 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance; and feeding said egg-based dry feed to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may begin eating adult food, wherein said egg-based dry feed encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

6. The method according to claim 4, and further wherein said egg-based milk replacer imparts disease resistance to said young mammal to thereby achieve disease resistance at least equivalent to that found in a young mammal fed mother's milk.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the egg-based milk replacer consists essentially of, by weight:high quality inedible eggfrom about 55% to about 65%;wheyfrom about 25% to about 35%;cornfrom about 7.75% to about 9.75%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1 % to about 2%.

8. A method of increasing the growth rate of young mammals comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based dry feed for a young mammal, consisting essentially of, by weight: high quality inedible egg from about 1% to 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance; and feeding said egg-based dry feed to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may begin eating adult food, wherein said egg-based dry feed encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

9. The method according to claim 8, and further wherein said egg-based dry feed imparts disease resistance to said young mammal to thereby achieve disease resistance at least equivalent to that found in a young mammal fed mother's milk.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the egg-based dry feed consists essentially of, by weight:high quality inedible eggfrom about 25% to about 45%;wheyfrom about 7.5% to about 17.5%;cornfrom about 40% to about 60%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

11. An egg-based feed composition for young mammals, comprising:high quality inedible egg from about 1% to less than 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance.

12. The egg-based feed composition of claim 11, wherein said composition comprises:high quality inedible eggfrom about 55% to about 65%;wheyfrom about 25% to about 35%;cornfrom about 7.75% to about 9.75%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%;vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

13. The egg-based feed composition of claim 11, wherein said composition comprises:high quality inedible eggfrom about 25% to about 45%;wheyfrom about 7.5% to about 17.5%;cornfrom about 40% to about 60%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%;vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

14. A method of increasing the growth rate of young mammals comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based milk replacer for a young mammal, comprising: high quality inedible egg from about 1% to less than 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance; and feeding said egg-based milk replacer to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may be weaned from said egg-based milk replacer; wherein said egg-based milk replacer encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

15. The method according to claim 14, and further comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based dry feed for a young mammal, comprising: high quality inedible egg from about 1% to less than 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance; and feeding said egg-based dry feed to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may begin eating adult feed, wherein said egg-based dry feed encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

16. The method according to claim 14, and further wherein said egg-based milk replacer imparts disease resistance to said young mammal to thereby achieve disease resistance at least equivalent to that found in a young mammal fed mother's milk.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the egg-based milk replacer comprises:high quality inedible eggfrom about 55% to about 65%;wheyfrom about 25% to about 35%;cornfrom about 7.75% to about 9.75%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%;vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

18. A method of increasing the growth rate of young mammals comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based dry feed for a young mammal, comprising: high quality inedible egg from about 1% to less than 100%; and at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of: milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source balance; and feeding said egg-based dry feed to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may begin eating adult feed, wherein said egg-based dry feed encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

19. The method according to claim 18, and further wherein said egg-based dry feed imparts disease resistance to said young mammal to thereby achieve disease resistance at least equivalent to that found in a young mammal fed mother's milk.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the egg-based dry feed comprises:high quality inedible eggfrom about 25% to about 45%;wheyfrom about 7.5% to about 17.5%;cornfrom about 40% to about 60%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%;vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

21. A method of preparing a high quality inedible egg product for use in feed products for young mammals comprising the steps of:providing at least one inedible egg; dyeing said at least one inedible egg; refrigerating said at least one inedible egg; and heat pasteurizing said at least one inedible egg.

22. The method of claim 21, and further comprising the step of:packaging said at least one inedible egg.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the heat pasteurizing step comprises the substeps of:subjecting said at least one inedible egg to a temperature of at least about 140° F. for at least about 4.5 minutes; and refrigerating said at least one inedible egg.

24. The method of claim 21, and further comprising the step of:spray drying said at least one inedible egg.

25. The method of claim 23, and further comprising the step of:spray drying said at least one inedible egg.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said spray drying step further comprises the substeps of:spray drying said at least one inedible egg to obtain thereby a moisture level in said at least one inedible egg of between about 2 and about 10 percent; providing a free-flow agent; and adding said free-flow agent to said at least one inedible egg.

27. The method of claim 25, and further comprising the step of:packaging said at least one inedible egg.

28. A method of increasing the growth rate of young mammals comprising the steps of:preparing an egg-based milk replacer for a young mammal comprising high quality inedible eggs; feeding said egg-based milk replacer to said young mammal until said young mammal reaches an age at which it may be weaned from said egg-based milk replacer; wherein said egg-based milk replacer encourages growth in said young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk; preparing an egg-based dry feed for a weaned young mammal, comprising high quality inedible eggs; and feeding said egg-based dry feed to said weaned mammal until said weaned young mammal reaches an age at which it may begin eating adult feed, wherein said egg-based dry feed encourages growth in said weaned young mammal to thereby achieve a growth rate at least equivalent to a growth rate experienced by a young mammal fed mother's milk.

29. The method according to claim 28, and further wherein said egg-based milk replacer and said egg-based dry feed impart disease resistance to said young mammal and said weaned young mammal to thereby achieve disease resistance at least equivalent to that found in a young mammal fed mother's milk.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said egg-based milk replacer further comprises at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the egg-based milk replacer comprises:high quality inedible eggfrom about 55% to about 65%;wheyfrom about 25% to about 35%;cornfrom about 7.75% to about 9.75%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%;vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein said egg-based dry feed further comprises at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of milk product, cereal grain or cereal grain product, fruit pectin, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, urea, electrolyte, vitamin, mineral, yeast, and animal or vegetable protein source.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein the egg-based milk replacer comprises:high quality inedible eggfrom about 55% to about 65%;wheyfrom about 25% to about 35%;cornfrom about 7.75% to about 9.75%;vitamin mixfrom about 0.05% to about 0.25%;vitamin Efrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%;mineral mixfrom about 0.01% to about 0.1%; andcalcium carbonatefrom about 0.1% to about 2%. —