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Planning and Analyzing Digestibility Experiments

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Rumenology

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Abstract

Researchers in the animal sciences rely heavily in the use of analytical techniques that optimize the use of the experimental resources. Specifically in the field of ruminant nutrition, the most expensive resource is often the experimental unit itself. Availability of animals (and in particular ruminally or duodenally cannulated animals) can be the limiting factor in many research institutions. Thus, designing the correct experiment to answer the key research questions becomes imperative in order to make an efficient use of the animal resource. The development of assays based on principles of chemistry and physics combined with the application of mathematical and statistical tools provided the basis for most of the techniques used nowadays in ruminant nutrition laboratories. Several of these techniques were developed in the 70s and 80s and the solid science principles behind their development make them valid even 30 or 40 years from their first description. However, several scientific and technological advances have been made in the last decades, which can be adapted to the existing protocols to improve the accuracy or reduce the associated cost of ruminal nutrition research, whether that cost is in the form of supplies or labor.

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Acknowledgment

The author expresses his sincere gratitude to Dr. Martin Ruiz Moreno for his critical review of the chapter and valuable contributions to the development of protocols.

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  1. North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Marianna, FL, USA

    Nicolas DiLorenzo

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  1. Nicolas DiLorenzo
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Correspondence to Nicolas DiLorenzo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Dracena, São Paulo, Brazil

    Danilo Domingues Millen

  2. Breeding and Animal Nutrition Department, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil

    Mario De Beni Arrigoni

  3. Mato Grosso State Agricultural Research and Extension Company (EMPAER), Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil

    Rodrigo Dias Lauritano Pacheco

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DiLorenzo, N. (2016). Planning and Analyzing Digestibility Experiments. In: Millen, D., De Beni Arrigoni, M., Lauritano Pacheco, R. (eds) Rumenology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30533-2_11

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