Metabolisable energy and digestible nutrient contents of brewers grains and glucose for the young Turkey

1. The metabolisable energy (ME) contents of dried brewers grains and of dried brewers grains with yeast were 5.51 +0.69 and 7.20 ±0.69 MJ/kg dry matter or 0.25 + 0.03 and 0.34 + 0.03 of their respective gross energy contents.

2. In these respective ingredients, the apparent digestibility coefficients of protein were, 0.66 + 0.08 and 0.69 + 0.08; of fat, 0.49 + 0.16 and 0.64 + 0.16; of dry matter 0.14 + 0.05 and 0.24 + 0.05, while fibre and nitrogen‐free extract (NFE) were not digested.

3. In balanced low‐protein diets formed by adding glucose to a high‐protein diet, the ME content of glucose was 15.12 + 0.44 MJ/kg dry matter or 0.97 ± 0.03 of its gross energy content, while the apparent digestibility coefficient of its NFE was 0–99 + 0–02, and that of its dry matter was 1.02 + 0.04.

4. Imbalancing diets greatly by removing or adding glucose to a balanced diet did not affect the nutrient digestibility or the ME of glucose, indicating that the basic assumption of linearity of these measurements with dietary content of the test ingredient was valid.