Feed Conversion Efficiency

Feed conversion efficiency (FCE) is a measure of the effectiveness of an animal to convert feed into body mass. It is expressed as the ratio of feed intake to growth or product output, and is calculated by dividing the output (in kilograms) by the feed intake (in kilograms). In other words, FCE is a measure of the amount of feed required to produce a unit of growth or product from an animal. FCE is an important indicator of animal production, as it indicates the performance of an animal and the level of efficiency with which animal feed is being utilized. A higher FCE indicates that the animal is efficiently producing more output from the same amount of feed, while a lower FCE indicates that the feed is inefficiently being used and not producing the desired output. FCE can also be used to measure the health of an animal and its ability to cope with environmental stressors. In addition, FCE is a key factor in developing optimal diets and in improving animal production systems.