Determination and Prediction of the Net Energy Content of Barley for Gestating Sows

This study determined the net energy (NE) value of barley for gestating sows and established net energy prediction equations by using indirect calorimetry. Ten barleys were selected for net energy determination in gestating sows and equation development. This experiment adopted a 4 × 6 × 3 Youden square design with 11 treatments: 1 corn-soybean basal diet and 10 barley diets containing 28.9% barley. Twenty-four healthy multiparous sows at 30–40 d of gestation were allocated and measured digestible energy, metabolizable energy and fasting heat production. Results showed that the digestible energy and metabolizable energy values of the barley ranged from 12.08 to 17.28 MJ/kg DM and 11.74 to 15.39 MJ/kg DM, with a mean value of 15.02 MJ/kg DM and 13.88 MJ/kg DM. By performing stepwise regression analysis of the net energy values of these ten barley ingredients and their chemical compositions, the prediction equation for the net energy of barley fed to gestating sows was obtained as NE = 4.35 − 3.92 ADF + 1.24 TDF (R2 = 0.66, p = 0.01). When metabolizable energy was included in the equation, it was obtained as NE = 10.21 + 0.93 ME + 0.51 CP (R2 = 0.62, p = 0.03).