US studies: variable results with DDGS

DDGS are a byproduct of the ethanol industry and are popular in pig diets.

 

The US study consisted of three individual experiments: experiment one consisted of 1,050 pigs and were fed diets either 0 or 15% DDGS and 0, 3, or 6%t added fat.

 

In the second experiment, 1,038 pigs were divided into groups and fed diets with either 0, 10, 20, or 30% of DDGS for 56 days.

 

Experiment three lasted 21 days and used a total of 120 grower pigs that were randomly put into different pens, each containing four feeders to determine if pigs would selectively prefer to consume diets with 0, 10, 20 and 30% DDGS.

 

The first experiment showed no improvement in average daily gain (ADG) or the feed to gain ratio (F/G) as added fat was increased regardless if DDGS were included in the diet.

 

There was also no difference in growth performance between pigs fed 0 or 15% DDGS. In study two there was an overall decrease in ADG and average daily feed intake (ADFI) as the percent of DDGS increased in the diets.

 

This reduction was due to depressed feed intake and daily gain for pig’s fed more than 10% DDGS. In study three pigs had depressed feed intake at any level DDGS in the diet, therefore indicating that if given a choice, the pigs would prefer to consume feed without DDGS.

 

These results suggest that DDGS from the plants evaluated in this study can be included in the diet of commercial and finishing pigs at 10-15% without decreasing performance.