| ABSTRACT Precise body composition measurements are essential in animal nutrition studies because the impact of treatments is evaluated based on changes in body weight and composition. Various indirect techniques for animal compositional evaluation have been developed and evaluated for applicability in animal nutrition studies. A fast, accurate, minimally invasive method that requires little input is considered the ideal for providing information about the animal. Measurements obtained by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) are highly correlated with those obtained by chemical analysis and dissection. The algorithms of DXA software partition the six chemical components of the body (lipids, water, proteins, carbohydrates, non-bone mineral, and bone... |
