EN
The paper presents current facts concerning the chemical composition of milk substitutes used in rearing dairy calves. Feeding calves with milk substitutes instead of whole milk is a common practice in dairy herds for economic reasons. Mother's milk, on the other hand, is considered to be the best source of nutrition for newborn calves. Poor quality of milk substitutes may easily lead to health problems and poor performances of calves. Research in new production technologies as well as new alternative sources of milk ingredients has increased the quality of milk substitutes. Additional progress in knowledge concerning the nutritional requirements of newborn calves has resulted in adjusting the composition of milk substitute in relation to the young calf's needs. Scientific research has concentrated mainly on the quality of proteins incorporated into milk substitutes, ideal forms of fat substitutes and substitutes of the bioactive components of milk.