Are specialty proteins worth their cost in starter feeds?

Any specialty protein is worth its cost when it helps the piglet get through the period when ordinary ingredients are not yet good enough. Not every starter feed needs one, and not every expensive protein deserves a place in the formula.

The first mistake is to judge specialty proteins as if they were cheap protein sources. They are not there to compete with soybean meal on cost per unit of crude protein. Their job is to support the newly weaned pig when digestion is immature, feed intake is shaky and every mistake becomes visible by the second or third day in the nursery.