Traditional calf starters are formulated to balance nutrient needs of calves fed restricted amounts (4L/d) of reconstituted milk replacer (MR) or whole milk (WM). We compared growth and intake of calves fed higher rates of MR or WM and traditional calf starter (CS) or an alternative (AC) feeding program that more closely matches NRC (2001) guidelines. The AC program consisted of feeding cracked corn ad libitum from 1 to 21d of age; then during wk 4 a 2:1 mixture of cracked corn:calf grower (20% CP); then at wk 5 a 94:6 mixture of grower and soybean meal was fed along with alfalfa hay ad libitum. Holstein heifer calves (n = 75) were assigned randomly to 1 of 5 treatment groups: T1: A negative control in which calves were offered 4 L/d of MR(24% CP, 22% Fat) from d2 to 6 wk of age, at wk 7 they were fed and 2 L/d until they were weaned at wk 8. T2: Calves were offered 8 L/d of MR until 5 weeks old. At wk 6 and 7 they were fed 4 L/d and 2 L/d respectively. Calves on T1 and T2 were fed ad libitum CS. T3: Calves received MR in the same manner as calves assigned to T2 and the AC feed program. T4 and T5: Calves were fed in the same manner as calves assigned to T2 and T3 respectively, except that they were fed pasteurized WM instead of MR. Growth, feed intake and health scores were measured. Data were analyzed as repeated measures over time with the MIXED procedure (SAS Inst. Inc.). During the first 8 weeks of the study ADG were higher in calves fed WM (T4 and T5) than calves fed MR (T1, T2 and T3; P < 0.05) (Table 1). Growth rate (ADG) did not differ between calves offered CS or AC. Calves fed a restricted amount of MR (T1) had higher feed intake than others groups (P < 0.05). Calves on T1, T2 and T3 had slightly higher morbidity (higher health scores) than calves fed WM (T4 and T5; P < 0.05). Feeding calves WM increased growth and decreased morbidity. Replacing calf starter with the alternative concentrate program did not affect performance. Table 1. Performance of calves through eight weeks of age

	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	SEM	T1 vs T2,3,4,5	T1,2,3 vs T4,5	T2 vs T3	T4 vs T5
ADG (g/d)	701.3	713.4	634.6	803.3	764.8	32.6	0.45	0.00	0.10	0.41
Feed intake (g/yr)	849.9	687.2	589.8	770.2	639.2	37.4	<0.001	0.90	0.07	0.01
Health score	0.45	0.49	0.50	0.36	0.37	0.06	0.76	0.03	0.90	0.85