A note on the relationship between the digestible dry matter and the digestible energy content of ruminant diets

Abstract

The digestible energy content (y, in Calories per gram) of a wide range of foodstuffs for ruminants may be accurately estimated from the dry matter digestibility (x per cent) by the regression y = 0.0467 x - 0.158 (r = 0.998). It follows that dry matter digestibility itself is a simple and accurate description of the digestible energv content of foodstuffs for ruminants.