Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Energy partitioning describes how the total gross energy of a feed is digested, metabolized, and utilized by an animal.
At each step of digestion and metabolism, energy is lost from the system in different forms, leaving a smaller portion of net energy available for maintenance and production.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let us review the steps of energy partitioning in animals:
1.Gross Energy (GE): The total potential energy in the feed.
2.Digestible Energy (DE): Calculated by subtracting fecal energy losses (D) from the gross energy:
\[
DE = GE - \text{Fecal Energy}
\]
3.Metabolizable Energy (ME): Calculated by subtracting urinary energy losses (B) and gaseous energy losses (C) from digestible energy:
\[
ME = DE - (\text{Urinary Energy} + \text{Gaseous Energy})
\]
4.Net Energy (NE): This is the actual energy available to the animal for maintenance and production.
It is calculated by subtracting the heat increment (HI) from the metabolizable energy:
\[
NE = ME - \text{Heat Increment}
\]
The heat increment is the heat produced during the physical and chemical processes of digesting and metabolizing nutrients, which is dissipated as waste heat.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The net energy content of a feed is calculated by subtracting the Heat increment from the metabolizable energy.