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Found this on the internet sometime ago it might help...
Energy. Energy is the amount of power produced when food is metabolized. Energy is measured in heat units (calories or joules). In nutrition the kilocalorie (kcal) equals 1000 gram calories. A gram calorie is the heat required to raise 1 gram of water 1BC (14.5 to 15.5BC) (1 kcal equals 4.184 kjoules).
Metabolizable energy (ME). The amount of energy available to be used for maintenance, for production of body tissue (for growth and replacement), activity and egg production, when a food material or feed is eaten. It includes the heat lost during metabolism. The ME of a feed ingredient (individual feed) may be used to indicate the nutritional value of that ingredient. Feed ingredients or feeds are rated as high or low energy. ME depends on the quality of the feed and on the % dry matter. Good maize (corn) at 85% dry matter (15% water) has an ME of 3300 kcal/kg. The ME for barley is 2700 kcal/kg. Fats may have an ME of 9000 kcal/kg. If chickens are fed a low energy feed they will eat more feed, if it is available, to get the required energy. In monogastric animals, like chickens, energy comes mainly from carbohydrates and fats since fibre containing cellulose cannot be digested.
Chris
Found this on the internet sometime ago it might help...
Energy. Energy is the amount of power produced when food is metabolized. Energy is measured in heat units (calories or joules). In nutrition the kilocalorie (kcal) equals 1000 gram calories. A gram calorie is the heat required to raise 1 gram of water 1BC (14.5 to 15.5BC) (1 kcal equals 4.184 kjoules).
Metabolizable energy (ME). The amount of energy available to be used for maintenance, for production of body tissue (for growth and replacement), activity and egg production, when a food material or feed is eaten. It includes the heat lost during metabolism. The ME of a feed ingredient (individual feed) may be used to indicate the nutritional value of that ingredient. Feed ingredients or feeds are rated as high or low energy. ME depends on the quality of the feed and on the % dry matter. Good maize (corn) at 85% dry matter (15% water) has an ME of 3300 kcal/kg. The ME for barley is 2700 kcal/kg. Fats may have an ME of 9000 kcal/kg. If chickens are fed a low energy feed they will eat more feed, if it is available, to get the required energy. In monogastric animals, like chickens, energy comes mainly from carbohydrates and fats since fibre containing cellulose cannot be digested.
Chris