US studies show variable results with DDGS

DDGS are a byproduct of the ethanol industry and is a popular byproduct 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.