Energy Cost of Protein and Fat Deposition in Sheep

Data from comparative slaughter experiments involving 396 growing and fattening young sheep and 26 mature sheep on blended pelleted roughage-concentrate diets or Sudan hay were used to estimate the energy cost of protein and fat deposition. Protein synthesis required 45.6 ± 8.69 kcal metabolizable energy (ME) per gram or 8.14 ± 1.55 kcal ME per kilocalorie of protein deposited. Fat synthesis required 10.2 ± 3.58 kcal ME per gram or 1.10 ± 0.38 kcal ME per kilocalorie of fat deposited.