Digestibility: how much feed an animal absorbs
Digestibility is the share of feed nutrients an animal absorbs rather than passes out in dung. It is expressed as a percentage for dry matter, organic matter, protein or energy. More digestible feed supplies more usable nutrients from each kilogram of dry matter eaten.
How do you compare digestibility?
For example, 10 kg of hay dry matter containing 5 kg of digestible dry matter has a dry-matter digestibility of 50%. The same dry weight of concentrate with 80% digestibility supplies a greater share of usable nutrients to the animal.
How can you compare feed energy?
HerdMobile helps you compare the energy supplied by your feeds when planning a ration, so you can see why some feeds provide more usable energy than others.
Questions from the farm
How is dry-matter digestibility calculated?
Divide the dry matter digested by the dry matter eaten, then multiply by 100. This gives the percentage digested, which you can use to compare feeds.
Is digestibility the same as energy value?
Digestibility tells you how much the animal absorbs. Energy value tells you how much energy the absorbed portion provides and how the animal can use it.
How HerdMobile helps
Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.
Compare the energy values of your feeds to see which supplies more usable energy per kilogram of dry matter when planning your animals' daily ration.
