BSE and cattle blood?

[MR3]

I just heard on CNN Headline News. A spokes person with a red maple leaf in the background say that Canadian beef was safer than U S beef due to the fact that the U S still has a practice of feeding cattle blood to calves and BSE can be transmitted this way. Count me dumb, but I have never heard of such a practice of feeding cattle blood to calves. Did any one catch this? What's the deal?

Rod

 

[Texan]

Rod, this is part of a good piece from Merricks on baby calf nutrition, etc. This part I've pasted "provides a brief description of several of the more common ingredients or supplements fed to calves to enhance or complement digestive and absorptive functions."

Animal Plasma. Animal plasma is obtained by centrifuging whole blood into its major components, plasma and blood cells. The two main types of animal plasma are bovine (ruminant) and porcine (swine). These products provide a source of both protein and immunoglobulins, primarily IgG and are usually added to milk or milk replacer. In the digestive tract, IgG has a direct affect on pathogens and may also have a direct effect on the intestinal mucosa.

The whole article is here:
http://www.merricks.com/intestinal.htm

 

[MR3]

Texan, Thanks for posting that sight. Some really good stuff!

Rod