The apparent digestibility of crude protein by the ruminant: IV. The effect of crude fibre

Abstract

The role of crude fibre in modifying the general equation relating the digestibility coefficient of crude protein to the percentage of crude protein in the dry matter of a feed is described. It is shown that for normal average food-stuffs the effect is slight and that for all practical routine purposes the original equation will provide satisfactory estimates of the digestibility coefficient when only the crude-protein content of the dry feed is known. On the other hand, when exceptional feeds are encountered, particularly those in which the crudefibre/crude-protein relationship is abnormal, then more accurate estimates of the digestibility coefficient of crude protein can be obtained from the modified equation which is described above.