Protein Digestibility Coefficients for Yearling Channel Catfish Fed High Protein Feedstuffs

Yearling (1 +) channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were held in a regulated environment and fed high protein feedstuffs to determine apparent crude protein digestibility coefficients (ACPD). ACPD was determined by feeding semi-purified diets containing a sufficient non-protein energy source and substituting the test feedstuff at an isonitrogenous level. Feedstuffs tested were corn gluten meal, peanut meal, poultry by-product meal, soybean meal, menhaden fish meal, blood meal, and meat and bone meal. ACPD values ranged from 92% for corn gluten meal to 65% for poultry by-product meal. Mean ACPD from plant sources was higher than the mean ACPD from animal sources but may be an artifact of the feedstuffs tested.