Digestible and metabolizable energy values of faba beans and field peas fed to growing pigs

Abstract The digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in faba beans (FB) and field peas (FP) fed to growing pigs were estimated by the difference procedure in two experiments using the total collection method. Twenty-four barrows with mean initial body weight (BW) of 20.0 kg (SD = 1.13) and 20.4 kg (SD = 0.56) in the first (Exp. 1) and second experiments (Exp. 2), respectively, were assigned to three dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with BW as a blocking factor. A reference diet was prepared using corn, soybean meal, and soybean oil as the energy-contributing ingredients. Organic FB and DS Admiral FP (FPD) in Exp. 1 and Hampton FP (FPH) and 4010 FP (FP4) in Exp. 2 were included at 30% in the reference diet. In Exp. 1, the determined DE and ME were 3772 and 3606 kcal·kg−1 dry matter (DM) in FB and 3683 and 3589 kcal·kg−1 DM in FPD, respectively. In Exp. 2, the respective DE and ME were 4164 and 4014 kcal·kg−1 DM in FPH and 3574 and 3467 kcal·kg−1 DM in FP4. In conclusion, the determined ME values for FB and FP were 77% to 90% of gross energy.