The Utilization by Calves of the Energy Contained in Balanced Rations Composed of Combinations of Different Feeds

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Abstract
It has been shown in metabolism and respiration experiments on eight steer calves of predominantly Shorthorn breeding that the metabolizable energy in four specially designed experimental rations is approximately equally well utilized for maintenance and for body increase. These rations were composed of combinations of different feeds, no one feed occurring in more than one ration, and were so designed both to contain similar proportions of the various classes of nutrients distinguished by proximate chemical analysis, and to be adequate in all essential nutrients. The similarity in the net availability of the metabolizable energy of rations so constructed lends support to the hypothesis that the extent to which metabolizable energy is utilized for maintenance and tissue synthesis is not a function of the particular feeds included in the ration, but is dependent, immediately or eventually, on the adequacy of the combination of digestible nutrients thus presented to the tissues in covering their demands for nutriment.
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