Effects of dried distiller grains with solubles on growing and finishing pig performance in a commercial environment

¹ Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506-0201
² Food Animal Health and Management Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506-0201

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jderouch{at}ksu.edu.

	Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to determine the optimal level of dried distiller grains with solubles (DDGS) from a common ethanol manufacturing facility and determine potential interactions between dietary DDGS and added fat on growing and finishing pig performance and carcass characteristics. All experiments were conducted at the same commercial facility and used DDGS from the same ethanol manufacturing facility. In Exp. 1, a total of 1,050 pigs (average initial BW, 47.6 kg) with 24 to 26 pigs per pen were fed diets containing 0 or 15% DDGS and 0, 3, or 6% added choice white grease in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement with 7 pens per treatment in a 28-d growth assay. Overall, there were no DDGS x added fat interactions (P 0.14). There was an improvement (linear, P < 0.01) in ADG and G:F as the percentage of added fat increased. There was no difference (P = 0.74) in growth performance between pigs fed 0 or 15% DDGS. In Exp. 2, a total of 1,038 pigs (average initial BW, 46.3 kg) with 24 to 26 pigs per pen were fed diets containing 0, 10, 20, or 30% DDGS with 10 pens per treatment in a 56-d growth assay. Pigs fed diets containing DDGS had a tendency for decreased ADG and ADFI (linear, P = 0.09 and 0.05, respectively), but the greatest reduction seemed to occur between pigs fed 10 and 20% DDGS. In Exp. 3, a total of 1,112 pigs (average initial BW, 49.7 kg) with 25 to 28 pigs per pen were used in a 78-d growth assay to evaluate the effects of increasing DDGS (0, 5, 10, 15, or 20%) in the diet on pig growth performance and carcass characteristics with 9 pens per treatment. From d 0 to 78, ADG and ADFI decreased linearly (P 0.04), but the greatest reduction seemed to occur between pigs fed 15 and 20% DDGS. Feed efficiency tended to improve (P = 0.06) when DDGS was included in the diet. There was no difference (P = 0.22) in loin depth. Carcass weight and percent yield decreased (linear, P 0.04) with increasing levels of DDGS in the diet. Backfat and fat-free lean index tended to decrease (linear, P 0.09) with increasing levels of DDGS in the diet. In conclusion, finishing pigs raised under commercial production conditions can be fed 10 to 15% DDGS from the source evaluated in this study before growth rate was compromised.

Key Words: carcass, distillers dried grains with solubles, growth, swine