The estimation of metabolizable energy in maize and in wheat by-products using chickens, with observations on problems of prediction from chemical composition

Abstract

SUMMARYIn a study with chicks, the metabolizable energy (ME) values of two maize and two wheat offal samples were estimated using regression procedures in which the ME of the fishmeal supplement, common to all diets, was first calculated.From chemical analysis, the wheat offal samples would have been expected to yield at least as much ME as oats, but results fell short of expectation by as much as a quarter in the case of one sample of wheat middlings. The significance of these findings is discussed.By comparison with previously determined ME values on the same samples fed to sheep, the chicken tended to metabolize more of the maize energy and less of the wheat offal energy.