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Use of allantoin excretion to assess the energetic efficiency of rumen microbial protein yield in sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2017

R.J. Dewhurst
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry University of Bristol Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DU
C.J. Waters
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry University of Bristol Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DU
A.J.F. Webster
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry University of Bristol Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DU
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Extract

The energetic efficiency of microbial protein yield from the rumen (E) is a major element of uncertainty in systems describing the supply and utilisation of dietary protein in ruminants. The relationship between microbial growth rate and E can be described with some precision in vitro but the situation is complicated in vivo by the necessity to determine microbial outflow rate from the rumen. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC 1984) assumed a fixed value of 32g microbial N/kg DOMR (organic matter apparently digested in the rumen) or 1.34g microbial N/MJ Metabolizable Energy (1.34g MN/MJME) while recognising that there are sound theoretical reasons why the relationship might better be described by a variable function.

Type
Ruminant Nutrition and Production
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1987

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References

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