The apparent digestibility of crude protein by the ruminant: IV. The effect of crude fibre

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Abstract
The role of crude fibre in modifying the general equation relating the digestibility coefficient of crude protein to the percentage of crude protein in the dry matter of a feed is described. It is shown that for normal average food-stuffs the effect is slight and that for all practical routine purposes the original equation will provide satisfactory estimates of the digestibility coefficient when only the crude-protein content of the dry feed is known. On the other hand, when exceptional feeds are encountered, particularly those in which the crudefibre/crude-protein relationship is abnormal, then more accurate estimates of the digestibility coefficient of crude protein can be obtained from the modified equation which is described above.