Digestibility Coefficients and Metabolizable Energy of Barley Diets for Layers as Influenced by Geographical Area of Production

Abstract

In a digestibility trial with poultry, barley cultivated at different geographical localities showed differences in the content of metabolizable energy, in the digestibility of crude protein, organic matter and crude carbohydrates. Crude protein digestibility decreased significantly with increased geographical latitude and this could be related to differences in the content of tannins in the barleys. Neither the weather conditions, the proximate composition of the barleys, the thousand kernel weight nor the viscosity were found to have any influences on the nutritive values.