ANN 111: Principles of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

METABOLISABLE ENERGY

• It is the digestible energy less the energy lost in urine and combustible gases leaving the digestive tract , chiefly methane.
• It can also be defined as ingested gross energy minus faecal energy minus urinary energy minus gaseous energy.
• It is the portion of energy available for metabolism.
• ME is commonly used to evaluate feedstuffs for poultry because the birds void urinary and faecal losses together.
• Urinary losses of energy is quite stable in a given species and is usually 2-3% of GE. The losses are more in ruminants.