flying fox milk comparisons - long grass systems fox milk comparisons.pdf · the increased calcium,...

Flying Fox Milk Comparisons - Peter Richards 2014

Flying Fox Milk Comparisons Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2

An overview of milk composition ........................................................................................... 2

Comparison of Milk Formulae ............................................................................................... 3

Summary of findings .......................................................................................................... 5

Wombaroo ..................................................................................................................... 5

Cow's Milk ...................................................................................................................... 5

Goat's Milk ..................................................................................................................... 5

NAN 2 ............................................................................................................................ 5

S-26 ............................................................................................................................... 5

Karicare ......................................................................................................................... 6

Biolac ............................................................................................................................. 6

Appendix 1 - Issues encountered with cow's milk .................................................................. 7

Excess and smelly poo ...................................................................................................... 7

Prolapsed Bowel ............................................................................................................... 7

Advice from UQ nutitionist ................................................................................................. 7

Appendix 2 - Wombaroo documents ..................................................................................... 8

Notes on milk composition of grey-headed flying fox. ........................................................ 8

Grey-Headed Flying Fox Milk Replacer ........................................................................... 10

Appendix 3 - Detailed comparisons of various formulae ...................................................... 11

Cow's Milk versus Bat Milk .............................................................................................. 11

Wombaroo versus Bats Milk ............................................................................................ 12

NAN versus Bat Milk ........................................................................................................ 13

S-26 versus Bat Milk ........................................................................................................ 14

Karicare versus Bat Milk .................................................................................................. 16

Appendix 4 - Feed chart for Wombaroo .............................................................................. 17

Mixing Wombaroo Flying Fox Milk ................................................................................... 17

Flying%20Fox%20Milk%20Comparisons%20update%20Oct%202014.doc#_Toc434495093


Introduction This document is a review and comparison of the nutritional values of the various formulas

used to feed baby flying foxes.

At Batavia we trialled the use of cow's milk during the 2010-2011 orphan year. Despite initial

enthusiasm for using cow's milk, following a review of the various issues that arose during

the 2010-2011 orphan season, we cannot recommend cow's milk for orphaned flying foxes.

The reasons are discussed in Appendix 1.

Even though goats milk has a much closer composition to flying fox milk than cows milk,

caution must be exercised when using it as some bats have been found to be intolerant to

the lactose in goats milk.

An overview of milk composition Included as Appendix 2 are two documents supplied by Brian Rich of Wombaroo which

discuss the composition of different types of milk.

The composition of milk differs widely among species. Factors such as the type of protein,

the proportion of protein, fat, and sugar, the levels of various vitamins and minerals, and the

size of the butterfat globules are among those that may vary.

In summary, milk comprises the following major components

Caseins which provide a balanced source of amino acids and carry the insoluble

elements calcium and phosphorus

Whey proteins which provide amino acids and hormones

Lipids (fats) which are the major source of energy in most milk

Carbohydrates (sugars) which are an additional source of energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_(liquid)


Comparison of Milk Formulae The following chart summarise the composition of various milks formulae that have been

used for flying foxes. The Bat milk figures come from the paper "Milk Composition in the

Grey-headed Flying-fox" by Michael Messer and Kerryn Parry-Jones with the exception of

the calcium content which comes from Dave Pinson's Flying Fox Manual 2009 (the Calcium

reference has no citation and cannot be verified). The remaining figures come from the

individual product labels.

These figures are included in more detail as Appendix 3.

The increased Calcium, kilojoule rating, and carbohydrates shown in the table when adding

Sandoz Calcium syrup (containing 22mg Ca, and a total glucose content of 24% per mL) are

calculated as follows.

Each mL of Sandoz Calcium Syrup contains 22mg Ca, 4.27kj of energy, and 0.24g

carbohydrate.

Adding 2ml of Sandoz per 100ml equates to 440mg Ca, 85.4kJ, 4.8g carbohydrate

per Litre.

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740

Fresh Cow's Milk 32 49 36 1140 2720

Fresh Cow's Milk plus

2ml/100ml Sandoz

32 54 36 1580 2806

Long Life Cow's Milk 35 47 35 1250 2700

Sunshine 32 49 37 1210 2760

Sunshine plus 2ml/100ml

Sandoz

32 60 37 1650 2846

Diploma 31 52 38 1240 2830

Diploma plus 2ml/100ml

Sandoz

31 57 38 1680 2916

Fresh Goat Milk 31 44 35 1000 2760

Fresh Goat Milk plus

2.5ml/100ml Sandoz

31 50 35 1550 2867

Fresh Goat Milk plus

2.5ml/100ml Sandoz plus

2.5g/100ml glucose

powder

31 73 35 1550 3230


NAN HA 1 Gold 13 79 34 420 2810

NAN Pro 1 Gold 13 74 36 430 2800

NAN HA 2 Gold 15 85 30 750 2810

NAN Pro 2 Gold 13 83 32 770 2810

NAN Pro 2 Gold plus

4ml/100ml Sandoz

13 92.6 32 1650 2980

Wombaroo 50 63 30 1700 3200

S-26 Gold Newborn 14 73 36 490 2810

S-26 Original Newborn 15 72 36 460 2810

S-26 Gold Progress 20 72 32 900 2750

S-26 Original Progress 20 72 32 900 2750

S-26 Gold Toddler 32 100 33 1000 3480

KariCare Gold + Toddler 28 92 28 1410 3110

KariCare Gold 1 15 80 34 510 2850

KariCare Gold 2 21 81 29 790 2800

Biolac 1:50 31.5 50 37.8 2000 2709

Biolac 1:70 25 47 35.5 1428 2550

Biolac 1:50 refers to milk made to the manufacturers specifications of 2 scoops to 100ml of water,

Biolac 1:70 refers to milk made as recommended by Dave Pinson and Connie Kerr with 2 scoops to

140ml water. Scoop weights for Biolac are unverified and are supplied by Connie Kerr.


Summary of findings

Wombaroo

Wombaroo flying-fox formula is higher in protein, fat and calcium than bat milk but lower in

carbohydrates. Wombaroo is based on cow's milk however Wombaroo use a fracturing

process to separate the casein from the whey resulting in a more readily digestible formula

with a much smaller protein molecule than fresh or powdered cows milk.

Cow's Milk

Full cream cow's milk with added calcium is lower in protein and carbohydrate and higher in

fats than bat milk. As discussed in Appendix 1 the fat and protein molecules in cow's milk

are too large for Flying-fox babies to digest and we do not recommend its use.

Goat's Milk

Goat's milk with added calcium is lower in protein and carbohydrate and higher in fats than

bat milk. However, when glucose powder is added the composition is quite close. As

discussed in Appendix 1 the protein and fat molecules in goat's milk are much smaller than

those in cow's milk and thus fresh goat's milk is a more suitable diet for baby Flying-foxes

than cow's milk. Caution must be exercised when using it as some bats have been found to

be intolerant to the lactose in goats milk. We do not recommend the use of goats milk as a

general practice.

NAN 2

The NAN range of formulae by Nestles are at first glance a bit bewildering being split into

NAN 1 and NAN2 and further having NAN1 HA and NAN2 HA. The NAN1 products are for

birth to 6 months, and the NAN2 products are for 6 months on. The HA stands for hypo-

allergenic and is for babies that are allergic to dairy products. The product that is used for

flying-foxes is NAN HA 2 GOLD.

All the NAN formulas are too high in carbohydrates and too low in calcium. The low levels of

calcium cannot readily be adjusted by adding Sandoz as this will increase the carbohydrates

even more.

S-26

All the S-26 products are significantly lower in calcium than bat milk. Adding enough Sandoz

to get the correct calcium amount increases the carbohydrates a bit higher than bat milk but

not to an unreasonable level in all except for S26 Gold Toddler. These figures are shown in

Appendix 3.

All the S-26 formulas are much lower in protein than bat milk which may be corrected by

adding High Protein (HP) powder.

According to the Wombaroo HP label it has

Protein 52% i.e. 520g/kg


Fat 12% i.e. 120g/kg

Unfortunately it doesn’t say how much carbohydrate it contains, however this link

(www.cooinda.com/prod50.htm) states that the carbohydrate content is 190g/kg but doesn't

say where it got that information.

The tables in Appendix 3 discuss the options of

Increasing the protein with Wombaroo HP and ignoring the carbohydrates

Increasing the protein with Wombaroo HP and accepting the 190g/kg of carbohydrate

assertion

S26 Newborn has 75% more fat and 24% more carbohydrates than bat milk.

Karicare

All the Karicare Gold formulas are too high in carbohydrates and too low in calcium. Adding

Sandoz increases the carbohydrates to a level that I feel is unacceptably higher than bat

milk.

Biolac

The two concentrations of Biolac are both much lower than Flying Fox milk in Protein and

Carbohydrates but higher in fats. Calcium and energy values are acceptable. Increasing the

amount of each daily feed to supply adequate Protein and Carbohydrates (using the

McDonalds nutritional model) increases the Fats and Calcium to unacceptable levels.

Conclusions

After an extensive review of the makeup of the various formulas being used for feeding baby

flying foxes, our conclusions are that there is currently only one acceptable milk replacement

that we recommend for orphaned flying foxes:

Wombaroo Flying Fox milk

http://www.cooinda.com/prod50.htm


Appendix 1 - Issues encountered with cow's milk

Excess and smelly poo

This was eventually traced to an incorrect conversion between the Diploma milk scoop and

the weight of the powder it contained. This meant that those carers who mixed the milk using

a measured weight of powder were feeding an incorrect concentration of milk. It must be

noted however that once the correct manufacturers mixing of cows was used, the poos were

still full of undigested white lumps indicating undigested milk. There was also a higher odour

than orphans raised on other formulas however it was manageable.

Prolapsed Bowel

During the 2010-2011 orphan season, a number of bats being fed on cow's milk experienced

prolapsed bowels. These bats were being raised by experienced carers. This observation

may be coincidental however it needs to be considered as we had never seen this frequency

of prolapsed bowel in any previous year prior to the use of cows milk.

Advice from UQ nutitionist

We contracted and discussed this problem, along with the general issue of milk composition,

with Janet Schloss, a PhD scholar from the Centre for Integrative Clinical Molecular

Medicine at the University of Queensland, School of Medicine. Janet raised serious

concerns with the size of the protein molecules in cow's milk compared with that in bat milk.

Among other things Janet said the following

if the baby bats did have prolapses, it could have been from the large protein

molecules that the bat would have had to digest.

goat's milk protein molecule is 9 times smaller than that of a cow but is still

significantly large that bat milk molecules.

cow's milk protein molecules are too large for a bat to digest, so I definitely would not

pick any cow's milk formula base.

With regard to the information provided by Wombaroo she further stated that

separating the casein from the whey and adding them together should definitely

make it much easier for the baby bats to digest

the protein (Amino Acids) and fat breakdown looks really good as it covers all the

main essential AA in good amounts and the fats compose a range of the essential

fatty acids and from good sources. They really have done a good job in putting the

formula together.


Appendix 2 - Wombaroo documents

Notes on milk composition of grey-headed flying fox.

Animals primarily eat to satisfy energy requirements so it is important to view nutrient

composition as a percentage of energy intake not as a percentage by weight. Protein, fat

and carbohydrate are converted to their equivalent energy using values of 25kJ/g, 37kJ/g

and 16kJ/g respectively.

A. In the original table Wombaroo milk energy is expressed as metabolisable energy. This

has been increased to a gross energy of 3450kJ/litre so that all preparations can be

compared equally.

Of the milk replacers described in this comparison, Wombaroo is clearly most representative

of the Messer, Parry-Jones values for wild flying fox milk. (Wombaroo was based on the

analysis of pooled samples of wild flying fox milk in 1987). The protein content in Wombaroo

is higher than that found in the Messer, Parry-Jones study, however, as the authors point

out, milk composition can be influenced by nutrient intake so the Wombaroo protein value

could realistically lie within the normal distribution for protein in wild flying fox milk.

Comparatively, Di-Vetelact is low in protein energy and high in fat energy. Nan 1 & 2

contain too little protein energy and too much fat energy. Biolac (for puppies) contains too

little carbohydrate energy and too much fat energy. Low dietary protein can lead to poor

development of muscle and other body tissues which in turn can result in a depressed

growth rate. A low protein to energy ratio (protein/energy) in the diet can eventually lead to

obesity. More food is eaten to increase protein intake which results in energy consumption

exceeding daily energy requirement. For example, to compensate for the lower protein

levels in Di-Vetelact, Nan 1 and Nan 2 a flying fox would need an increased energy intake of

20%, 230% and 150% respectively.

Regarding the lower milk protein values found by Messer and Parry-Jones for captive flying

fox, the authors state that these animals were fed mainly on chopped mixed fruit, supplied

ad libertum. If the animals were fed Wombaroo High Protein Supplement (HPS) then the

product label recommends feeding 5g of supplement per 300g of chopped fruit for

maintenance and 10g of supplement per 300g of chopped fruit for breeding females. This


recommendation is based on a maintenance energy requirement of 667kJ.kg-0.75.d-1 and a

maintenance nitrogen requirement of 457mg.kg-0.75.d-1 for the grey-headed flying fox

(Stellar,1986) which is equivalent to 0.685mg of nitrogen per kJ of energy. Feeding 5g of

HPS per 300g of chopped fruit is equivalent to 0.675mg of nitrogen per kJ of energy.

Feeding 10g of HPS per 300g of chopped fruit is equivalent to 1.33mg of nitrogen per kJ of

energy. Feeding fruit to the animals ad libertum and restricting the supplement to 10g per

day could seriously dilute the daily protein intake.

1. Messer and Parry-Jones data

2. Wombaroo data

Stellar, D. C. 1986. The Dietary Energy and Nitrogen Requirements of the Grey-Headed

Flying Fox, Pteropus poliocephalus (Temminck) (Megachiroptera). Aust. J. Zool., 34, 339-

49.


Grey-Headed Flying Fox Milk Replacer

REFERENCES

1. George, H. 1985. Notes on hand-rearing the grey-headed flying fox, Pteropus

poliocephalus.

2. George, H. 1990. Grey-headed Flying Foxes in “Care and Handling of Australian

Native Animals.”. Ed. S. J. Hand. Surrey Beatty & Sons Pty. Ltd. Sydney.

3. Rich, B.G. 1987. Proximate analysis of the milk of the grey-headed flying fox,

Pteropus poliocephalus . Unpublished data.

4. Stellar, D.C. 1986. The Dietary Energy and Nitrogen Requirements of the Grey-

Headed Flying Fox, Pteropus poliocephalus. Aust. J. Zool., 34: 339-349

5. Thomas, D.W. 1984. Fruit intake and energy budgets of frugivorous bats. Physiol.

Zool., 57: 457-467.


Appendix 3 - Detailed comparisons of various formulae

Cow's Milk versus Bat Milk

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

Fresh Cow's Milk 32 49 36 1140 2720

Fresh Cow's Milk plus

2ml/100ml Sandoz

32 60 36 1580 2806

Long Life Cow's Milk 35 47 35 1250 2700

Sunshine 32 49 37 1210 2760

Sunshine plus

2ml/100ml Sandoz

32 60 37 1650 2846

Diploma 31 52 38 1240 2830

Diploma plus

2ml/100ml Sandoz

31 57 38 1680 2916

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740


Wombaroo versus Bats Milk

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

Wombaroo 50 63 30 1700 3200

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740


NAN versus Bat Milk

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

NAN HA 1 Gold 13 79 34 420 2810

NAN Pro 1 Gold 13 74 36 430 2800

NAN HA 2 Gold 15 85 30 750 2810

NAN Pro 2 Gold 13 83 32 770 2810

NAN Pro 2 Gold plus

4ml/100ml Sandoz

13 92.6 32 1650 2980

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740


S-26 versus Bat Milk

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

S-26 Gold Newborn 14 73 36 490 2810

S-26 Original Newborn 15 72 36 460 2810

S-26 Gold Progress 20 72 32 900 2750

S-26 Original Progress 20 72 32 900 2750

S-26 Gold Toddler 32 100 33 1000 3480

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740

All the S-26 products are significantly lower in calcium than bat milk. Adding enough Sandoz

to get the correct calcium amount increases the carbohydrates a bit higher than bat milk but

not to an unreasonable level in all except for S26 Gold Toddler. These figures are shown

below.

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

S-26 Gold Newborn

plus 2.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

14 79 36 1590 3024

S-26 Original Newborn

plus 2.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

15 78 36 1560 3024

S-26 Gold Progress

plus 1.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

20 76 32 1560 2878

S-26 Original Progress

plus 1.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

20 76 32 1560 2878

S-26 Gold Toddler

plus 1.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

32 104 33 1660 3608

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740

All the S-26 formulas are much lower in protein than bat milk which may be corrected by

adding High Protein (HP) powder.

According to the Wombaroo HP label it has

Protein 52% i.e. 520g/kg

Fat 12% i.e. 120g/kg

Unfortunately it doesn’t say how much carbohydrate it contains, however this link

(www.cooinda.com/prod50.htm) states that the carbohydrate content is 190g/kg but doesn't

say where it got that information.

http://www.cooinda.com/prod50.htm


Increasing the protein with Wombaroo HP and ignoring the carbohydrates

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

S-26 Gold Newborn

plus 2.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

Plus 5g HP per 100ml

40 79 42 1590 3024

S-26 Gold Progress

plus 1.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

Plus 3.8g HP per

100ml

40 76 37 1560 2878

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740

Increasing the protein with Wombaroo HP and accepting the 190g/kg of carbohydrate

assertion

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

S-26 Gold Newborn

plus 2.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

Plus 5g HP per 100ml

40 89 42 1590

S-26 Gold Progress

plus 1.5ml

Sandoz/100ml

Plus 3.8g HP per

100ml

40 83 37 1560

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557

S26 Newborn has 75% more fat and 24% more carbohydrates than bat milk.


Karicare versus Bat Milk

Milk Protein

g/L

Carbohydrate

g/L

Fat

g/L

Calcium

mg/L

Energy

kJ/L

Karicare Gold 1 15 80 34 510 2850

Karicare Gold 2 21 81 29 790 2800

Karicare Gold +

Toddler

28 92 28 1410 3110

Karicare Goat 1 from

Birth

14 77 36 630 2900

Bat Milk 40 72 24.2 1557 2740


Appendix 4 - Feed chart for Wombaroo

Age FA Wt Feed Notes Age FA Wt Feed Notes

Days mm gm ml Schedule Days mm gm ml Schedule

0 60 70 22 4 4 4 5 5 46 106 186 42 10 10 11 11

1 62 72 23 4 4 5 5 5 47 107 189 42 10 10 11 11

2 63 75 24 4 5 5 5 5 48 108 192 43 10 11 11 11

3 64 77 24 4 5 5 5 5 Wk7 109 194 43 10 11 11 11

4 65 79 25 5 5 5 5 5 50 110 197 44 11 11 11 11

5 66 82 25 5 5 5 5 5 51 110 200 44 11 11 11 11

6 67 84 25 5 5 5 5 5 52 111 203 44 11 11 11 11

Wk1 69 86 26 5 5 5 5 6 53 112 205 45 11 11 11 12

8 70 89 26 5 5 5 5 6 54 113 208 45 11 11 11 12

9 71 91 26 5 5 5 5 6 55 113 211 45 11 11 11 12

10 72 93 27 5 5 5 6 6 Wk8 114 214 46 11 11 12 12

11 73 96 27 5 5 5 6 6 57 115 217 46 11 11 12 12

12 74 98 28 5 5 6 6 6 58 115 220 47 11 12 12 12

13 75 101 28 5 5 6 6 6 59 116 222 47 11 12 12 12

Wk2 76 103 29 5 6 6 6 6 60 117 225 48 12 12 12 12

15 77 106 29 5 6 6 6 6 61 118 228 48 12 12 12 12

16 79 108 30 6 6 6 6 6 62 118 231 48 12 12 12 12

17 80 111 30 6 6 6 6 6 Wk9 119 234 49 12 12 12 13 Stop peeling

18 81 113 31 6 6 6 6 7 64 120 237 49 12 12 12 13

19 82 115 31 6 6 6 6 7

65 120 240 50 12 12 13 13

½ raw - 2 fruits

20 83 118 32 6 6 6 7 7 66 121 243 50 12 12 13 13

Wk3 84 120 32 6 6 6 7 7 67 121 246 51 12 13 13 13

22 85 123 33 6 6 7 7 7 68 122 249 52 13 13 13 13

23 86 125 33 6 6 7 7 7 69 123 252 52 13 13 13 13

24 87 128 34 6 7 7 7 7 Wk10 123 255 39 13 13 13 3 bottles

25 88 131 34 6 7 7 7 7 71 124 258 39 13 13 13 Add HP

26 89 133 35 7 7 7 7 7 72 124 261 39 13 13 13

27 90 136 35 7 7 7 7 7 73 125 264 39 13 13 13

Wk4 91 138 35 7 7 7 7 7 Airer 74 126 267 39 13 13 13

29 92 141 36 7 7 7 7 8 75 126 270 26 13 13 2 bottles

30 93 143 36 9 9 9 9 4 bottles 76 127 273 26 13 13

31 93 146 36 9 9 9 9 Wk11 127 276 26 13 13 3 fruits

32 94 149 37 9 9 9 10 78 128 279 26 13 13

33 95 151 37 9 9 9 10 79 128 282 26 13 13

34 96 154 37 9 9 9 10 80 129 285 13 13

Wk5 97 156 37 9 9 9 10

Airer Fulltime 81 129 288 13 13

36 98 159 38 9 9 10 10 82 130 291 13 13

37 99 162 38 9 9 10 10 83 130 294 13 13

38 100 164 39 9 10 10 10 Wk12 131 297 13 13 Weaned

39 101 167 39 9 10 10 10

85 131 300

200 g fruit + HP

40 101 170 40 10 10 10 10 86 132 303

41 102 172 40 10 10 10 10 87 132 307

Wk6 103 175 40 10 10 10 10

Steamed Apple 88 133 310

43 104 178 40 10 10 10 10 89 133 313

44 105 181 41 10 10 10 11 90 133 316

45 106 183 41 10 10 10 11 Wk13 134 319

Mixing Wombaroo Flying Fox Milk

To make 250ml of milk, add 43g of powder to 100ml of warm water, mix to a paste then make up to 250ml with warm water, mix thoroughly. To make 100ml of milk, add 17g of powder to 50ml of warm water, mix to a paste then make up to 100ml with warm water, mix thoroughly. To make 50ml of milk, add 9g of powder to 25ml of warm water, mix to a paste then make up to 50ml with warm water, mix thoroughly.

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