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Fi: Energy-Calculation (2)

CALCULATING THE ENERGY VALUE OF FEEDS FOR DAIRY CATTLE ACCORDING TO

NRC 2001 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
This document is to help you understand the overall approached used by NRC to calculate energy
content of feeds used in dairy rations. Reference to Tables and Figures are for the papers of Bill Weiss.
The steps are as follows:
1. Start with the laboratory chemical analyses results or book values (all expressed as a % of DM);
2. Calculate FA and NFC (% of feed DM);
3. Calculate the CP, NFC, NDF and EE that is truly digested (td) and therefore contribute to the
Summative
Total Digestible Nutrient (TDN) of the feed when fed at maintenance (TDN1x);
4. Calculate TDN1x (% of DM) by summing up the truly digested (td) fraction of CP, NFC, NDF
equations:
and EE subtracting 7 from the total;
5. Calculate Digestible Energy at maintenance (DE1x) from TDN1x;
6. Calculate the DE value of the feed when mixed with other feeds in a ration (resulting in a given
TDN1x for the diet) and consumed at a given level above maintenance. This DE is called DE at
production level p (DEp) or the discounted DE (DEd);
7. Convert digestible energy (DEp) of the feed at production level p to a Metabolizable Energy
value at productive level p (MEp or MEd);
8. Convert discounted Metabolizable Energy (MEd) into discounted Net Energy of Lactation (NEl).

1- Start with the following chemical analyses (all expressed as a % of DM):

CP (Crude protein)
ADICP or ADIN (the N-bound to ADF);
NDF (neutral detergent fiber)
NDICP or NDIN (the N-bound to NDF)
ADL (Lignin) the phenolic compounds that limits
the fermentation of cellulose and hemicellulose).
Ash (or minerals).

2- Calculate FA and NFC (% of feed DM) as follows:

FA (Fatty acid) which can be predicted as ether

extract (EE) 1 (EE is an older method, and the
literature has a lot more EE values then FA values for
feed)
NFC =100 CP - (NDF-NDICP) EE Ash

Why do we need all these analyses?

These are the analyses required to
calculate the amount of nutrient truly
digestible, that it, the nutrient that can
deliver energy when combusted by
the cells in the body of the animal.
Note that some of these analyses can be
used also:
In formulating/balancing rations
In trouble-shooting rations
In feed supplementation strategies

What are we doing here?

In essence we are trying to use chemical
analyses to determine the amount of each feed
fraction that make biological sense.

3- Calculate the CP, NFC, NDF and EE that is truly

digested or fermented and therefore contribute to
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At this point, we are focusing on the feed only,

without worrying about what animal will be
consuming that feed.

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the Total Digestible Nutrient (TDN) of the feed when fed at maintenance (TDN1x)

Studying the summative equations of Table 1, youll notice that:

There are separate equations to calculate the truly digestible protein fractions in forages and
concentrates, but both include ADIN and CP.
As ADIN goes up TDN from CP will go down (this is because of the negative signs in the eqs.)
NFC is assumed to be 98% digestible, that is essentially fermented in the rumen and /or
digested in the stomach and intestine. The truly digestible NFC is also adjusted for a processing
adjustment factor (PAF), which account for the effect of grain processing (e.g., cracked vs. ground
vs. flaked corn) on starch digestibility.
The greater the lignin (ADL or L in the equation) the lower the NDF truly digestible.
Fatty acids are assumed be 100% digestible. Note that one has to multiply FA by 2.25 for the
purpose of calculating TDN1x (% of feed DM), but not when calculating DE1x (see eqs. below).

4- Calculate TDN1x

For most feeds TDN1x is calculated as:

TDN1x (% of feed DM) = tdNFC + tdCP + (tdFA x 2.25) +
tdNDF 7. Thus, to calculate TDN1x:
Add the contribution of truly digestible (td) CP, td NFC,
td NDF, and (td EE x 2.25) all together.
Subtract 7 from the total (this number represents the
amount of metabolic TDN (an estimate of the amount of
TDN found in the feces that does not come from the diet but
from the animal itself. (It is made of the digestive enzymes,
sloughed intestinal cells and undigested microbial matters).

Where do I see this in the

NRC software?
In the NRC software, you can
change the name and chemical
composition of a feed and
youll notice that TDN1x is
recalculated automatically.
Also, realize that the software
utilizes different equations for
Animal Protein feeds and
Fat supplements.

5- calculate Digestible Energy at maintenance (DE1x)

For most feeds TDN1x is calculated as:

DE1x Mcal/kg) = 4.2 x (tdNFC/100) + 5.6 x (tdCP/100) + 9.4 (tdFA/100) + 4.2 x (tdNDF/100) 0.3.
You convert the TDN1x to DE1x from each contributing entity by multiplying the CHO, CP and Fat
by their respective heat of combustions:
Carbohydrates contain 4.2 Mcal/kg (whether it was from NDF or NFC).
FA contain 9.4 Mcal/kg
Protein contain 5.6 Mcal/kg
In this case, the metabolic DE that needs to be subtracted from the total to obtain DE1x is 0.3 (this
values comes from the assumption that metabolic TDN contains 4.4 Mcal/kg (and 7/100 x 4.4 = 0.3).
Corn Silage
CP, % DM =
8.80
NDICP, % DM =
1.30
ADICP, % DM =
0.80
NDF, % DM =
45.00
FAT (EE), % DM = 3.20
Ash, % DM =
4.30
ADL =
2.60
PAF =
0.94
NDF NDICP = 45.00 1.3 =
43.70

Example of how to convert Feed Analysis values into

TDN1x and DE1x

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Summative equation.
Feed
Equations
Fraction
Forage
CP
NFC

FA
NDF

TDN1x
% DM

Energy
conversion

DE1x
(Mcal)

(-0.012 * (100*ADICP/CP)

CP * e

(-0.012 * (100*0.8/8.80))

8.80 * e
8.80 * 0.897
0.98 * NFC * PAF
0.98 * [100 43.7 - 8.80 - 3.2 - 4.30] * 0.94
0.98 * 40.00 * 0.94
EE 1
3.2 1
0.67

0.75 * ( NDF-L) * [1-(L/NDF)

7.89

0.056

0.442

36.85
2.25 *
2.2

0.042

1.548

0.094

0.207

26.17

0.042

1.099

]
0.67

Metab.
TOTAL

0.75 * (43.70 - 2.60) * [1 - (2.60/43.70)

0.75 * 41.10 * [1-0.151]
0.75 * 41.10 * 0.849
OR
NDF x NDFD
43.7 * 0.58
(minus 7)

OR
25.34
-7
68.9
or
68.03

OR
1.065
0.044

-0.3
2.99
or
2.96

6- Calculate the DE value of the feed when mixed with other feeds in a ration and consumed at a level
above maintenance This DE is called DE at production level or DEp or the discounted DE (DEd)

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Ruminant Nutrition 414

To do this, go back to Figure 2, or better the handout on the

discount factor (in which I re-created Figure 2). The discount
factor is an estimate of the TDN1x that will not be digested (but
excreted in feces) when the diet is consumed by productive
animal as opposed to an animal at maintenance. The two factors
you need to know to calculate the discount factor are:
TDN1x of the diet at maintenance (calculated the sum of the
products of the amount of each feed in the ration (DM basis)
by their respective TDN1x content.).
The level intake as a multiple of maintenance.
Remember that the loss in digestibility will go up as dry
matter intake will go up (because of higher rate of passage)
and as the TDN1x of the ration goes up.
DEp (NRC notation) = DEd (Bill Weisss paper notation) =
DE1x x Discount factor (eq. 1 of Table 2)

Fi: Energy-Calculation (2)

Where do I see this in the

NRC simulation software?
In the simulation software, the
actual factors used to adjust
DE1x for DEp are reported in
the Energy and Protein Supply
Report:
TDN1x is listed as
undiscounted TDN.
The level of intake as a
multiple of maintenance is
listed as Increment over
Maintenance.
The loss of digestibility is
listed as: Energy/Protein
Discount Factor.

7-Convert digestible energy (DEp) of the feed to a Metabolizable

Energy value at productive level (MEp or MEd)

This is done using a simple linear equation (second equation in

Table 2). Looking attentively at this equation, youll see two parts:
Part I. The part that says:1.01 x DEd 0.45 indicates that
ME is a direct linear relation with DE (intercept = -0.45 and a
slope of 1.01), that is in general the ME values are on average
about 0.45 units lower than the DE values.
Part II. The part that says: [0.0046 x (EE-3)] means that for
feed with more than 3% fat (EE), their ME values will be
greater than if predicted with part I of the equation only. This
is because for fat, ME = DE (there is not loss in the form of
ruminal gas fermentation with fat)!!!
8- Convert discounted Metabolizable Energy (MEd) into discounted
Net Energy of Lactation (NEl)

How does NRC convert DEp

to ME and NEl for a feed?
These two conversions are
made with linear equations.
However, the twist here is
that if a feed contains more that
3% EE, more ME and NE will
be available than expected from
the linear equation alone. The
second part to these equations
account for the fact that for fat
DE = ME.

To do that, use the third equation in Table 2. Again, recognize that there are two parts to this
equation.
Part I. The part that says 0.703 x ME 0.19 indicates that NEL is a linear function of ME
(however the slope is different than 1.0 here, so the difference between ME and NE is not a
constant value
Part II. The long and complicated part account also for the fact that for fat, the conversion of ME
to NEl is more efficient than for all other chemical fraction and therefore as fat in the feed is above
3% of DM, than NEl is greater than expected (remember than about half the fat in the milk come
directly from the diet and thus does not require any metabolic work of synthesis.)

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