Influence of fibre on metabolisable energy of diet and performance of growing pullets in the Tropics

1. Diets in which maize and palm kernel meals were major ingredients and whose metabolisable energy values were varied by the inclusion of graded amounts of maize cob (50 to 200 g/kg diet) were fed to growing pullets for 9 to 21 weeks of age. 2. Apparent metabolisable energy decreased from 11.82 to 9.79 MJ/kg diet as neutral detergent fibre increased from 182 to 330 g/kg. 3. Metabolisable energy intake was significantly reduced when the maize cob content was above 100 g/kg diet. 4. Protein intake was unaffected by treatment but apparent nitrogen retention was significantly depressed for pullets receiving the diet with 200 g/kg maize cob. Birds on the diet did not come into lay during the study.