The Value of Certain Surfactants and Other Growth Stimulants in the Rations of Young Dairy Calves

Ely (5) in 1951 and Ely and Schott (6) in 1952 found in a routine toxicity study that certain surface active agents appeared to stimulate growth in chicks.Luecke et al. (10) in 1952 found that the addition of 0.1% Ethomid C/15 to swine rations increased the daily rate of gain significantly and also improved feed efficiency.Since these early reports, various workers (1,2,4,11,13,14,16) experimenting with chicks or swine have either confirmed or have failed to confirm the earlier observations of Ely (5) and Lueeke et al. ( 10 ).Gardner et al. (7) reported that the addition of Ethomid C/15 to the diets of young calves on ad libitum milk feeding did not stimulate growth, whereas the addition of aureomycin did improve the growth rate.The evidence of scours was much greater in the Ethomid C/15 supplemented group.IIyde and Rusoff