The utilization of the energy of different rations by sheep and cattle for maintenance and for fattening

Abstract

1. Six diets in which the percentage of hay varied from 0 to 100% and the percentage of flaked maize varied conversely from 100 to 0% were each given to three sheep and three steers in a series of 72 calorimetric experiments. In addition the fasting metabolism of each animal was determined on two occasions.2. The loss of energy in the faeces increased linearly with the percentage of flaked maize in the diet, but the loss of N in the faeces did not, the loss being proportionately smaller for diets containing more than 60 % maize.