Vegetable proteins enhance the growth of milk-fed piglets, despite lower apparent ileal digestibility.

This experiment compared the replacement of whey protein with isolated soy protein (ISP), or 2 levels of a hydrolyzed vegetable protein mixture (Lo HVPM and Hi HVPM, containing a partially hydrolyzed blend of soy, wheat, and other proteins) in liquid milk-replacer diets fed to neonatal pigs from 2 to 19 d of age. Piglets fed the vegetable protein diets weighed 20% more (8179 +/- 211 g, P < 0.05) at the end of the study than piglets fed the whey diet (6805 +/- 244 g).