Table 3.

Apparent digestibility, energy and nitrogen balance of Dorper × thin-tailed Han crossbred ram lambs from d 41 to 52.

Items	Groups			SEM	P-value
	CAAS	NRC	AFRC
Apparent digestibility, %
DM	65.4a	58.5b	61.1b	1.03	0.006
OM	68.2a	61.1b	63.5b	1.08	0.006
CP	59.4ab	66.8a	54.3b	2.42	0.095
Energy balance, MJ/kg
GE intake	22.8	22.0	20.9	0.40	0.125
Fecal energy	8.39	9.73	9.09	0.22	0.142
Urinary energy	0.72	0.68	0.65	0.04	0.199
DE, MJ/kg DM	10.7a	9.79b	9.27b	0.23	0.008
DE/GE	0.64a	0.56b	0.57b	0.01	0.005
Nitrogen balance, g/d
Intake N	24.1a	22.2b	23.1ab	0.31	0.017
Fecal N	9.81	9.90	10.5	0.19	0.273
Urinary N	6.72a	3.96b	4.53b	0.44	0.006
Absorbed N	14.3a	12.3b	12.5b	0.30	0.001
Retained N	7.53	8.30	8.02	0.37	0.732

CAAS = Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; NRC = National Research Council; AFRC = Agricultural and Food Research Council; SEM = standard error of the mean; DM = dry matter; OM = organic matter; CP = crude protein; DE = digestible energy; GE = gross energy.

^a,b Mean values within a row with different superscript letters were significantly different (P < 0.05).