Pigs benefit from higher levels of DDGS
It has been discovered that distiller’s grains, which are added to pig’s diets at levels up to 30%, increase performance.
Large amounts of nutrient-dense dried distiller’s grains (DDGS) have been generated in the US. This is a valuable livestock feed ingredient; however, many swine nutritionists and formulators limit the inclusion rate of DDGS in pig feed to 10% of the ration.
Swine nutrition researchers at the University of Illinois, in cooperation with researchers at The Maschhoffs and United Feeds Inc., have found that DDGS can be added to the diets of growing pigs at up to 30% of the ration without negatively impacting performance.
The research
Researchers evaluated the effect of dietary level of DDGS and fat in a study involving 2,560 growing pigs. This was divided into 2 periods:
- Period one: (21-40 kg), four levels of DDGS (0, 10, 20, and 30%) and two levels of added fat (0 and 3%) were evaluated.
- Period two: (40-60 kg), researchers compared an additional factor of two levels of fat (0 ands 6%).
During Period one, there was no effect of DDGS inclusion level on body weight gain or feed intake. Including DDGS at 20 or 30%, however, had a positive effect on feed efficiency. In Period two, previous level of DDGS did not affect growth performance.
The researchers concluded that DDGS can be included at up to 30% of the diet of growing pigs without detrimentally affecting growth performance.
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