Veal caIves are traditionally reared with large amounts of milk replacer with low content of starch. The objectives of the experiment were to test the effects of three levels of substituting fat by starch on energy and N utilisation during the growing (mean body weight (BW): 11 8 kg; starch content from 4 to 13%) and the finishing stage (mean BW: 208 kg; starch content from 4 to 14%). At each stage, four treatments were implemented, exclusively composed of one milk replacer, or one milk replacer, supplemented with solid feed. Each treatment was fed to four caIves per stage at 630 and 545 kJ/kg BW0·R5/d of metabolisable energy (ME) intake during the growing and the finishing stage respectivcly to measure N and energy balances in respiration chambers. Starch content of the milk replacer did not affect digestive and metabolic utilisation of energy during the growing stage whereas both decreased during the finishing stage, because of higher CH4 production. Components of heat production (HP), total HP and total energy retention were never affected by treatment during both stages, but respiratory quotient corrected for protein oxidation significantly increased when starch inclusion level increased. Finally, net energy to ME ratio of all milk replacers averaged 79%.