The evaluation of the mobile nylon bag technique for determining the apparent protein digestibility in a wide variety of feedstuffs for pigs

Studies were conducted with four (50 to 70 kg) barrows to evaluate the mobile nylon bag technique (MNBT) for determining the apparent protein digestibility (AD) in a variety of feedstuffs. One-gram samples of each feedstuff, ground through a 1.0-mm mesh screen, were enclosed in nylon bags (25 X 40 mm; 48 microns mesh). Following predigestion (.01 N HCl; 4,000 Folin Intestinal Pepsin Units/liter), four bags of each sample were inserted into each pig via a duodenal T-cannula. The indigested contents were pooled within pig and feedstuff prior to crude protein analysis. The AD of each feedstuff was determined previously with four barrows according to the conventional method (CM), based on a 5-d total collection of feces following a 14-d adaptation period. The following results, AD (%), were obtained with the MNBT (n = 4) and CM (n = 4), respectively. Barley, 70.1 vs 81.2 (P less than .05); corn, 72.3 vs 82.1 (P less than .05); wheat, 79.6 vs 86.4 (P less than .05); corn gluten feed, 73.9 vs 70.9; rice bran, 57.3 vs 57.4; wheat middlings, 70.8 vs 79.4 (P less than .05); soybean meal, 89.9 vs 93.0; a mixture of soybean meal and hulls, 86.9 vs 88.8; coconut expeller, 65.0 vs 69.8; fababeans, 79.5 vs 78.5; peas, 87.6 vs 88.1; meat meal, 83.2 vs 84.0; complete diet (4.3% crude fiber), 76.3 vs 83.6 (P less than .05); and complete diet (13.6% crude fiber), 56.5 vs 55.0.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)