The effect of overprocessing dried distillers grains on the growth of finishing lambs
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Date
2024-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Dried distiller’s grains (DDG) are a popular by-product used in the livestock feed industry as it is a cost-effective feedstuff that is rich in crude protein and minerals. However, it is also well reported that as the concentration of DDG in the diet increases, animal dry matter intake decreases, thus extending the feeding period. To further investigate this challenge, my project involved feeding two different diets, diet A (control DDG) and diet B (processed DDG), and observing the differences in average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F) in finishing lambs. Both diets were the same except for the processing of DDG; whereas diet A used a commercial DDG source directly from the mill and diet B contained the same commercial DDG source that differed through additional heat processing. For DDG processing (diet B), 40% moisture was added to the DDG and heated at 150°C for 70 minutes. After the heating process, diet B was placed in a second oven at 56°C for two days to allow for humidity evaporation. Lambs, blocked by sex and weight, were housed in pens (2 to 3 lambs per pen, 6 pens per treatment) and were fed for 42 days. Lamb DMI was measured daily, and body weight was measured every 14 days. Data were analyzed using a mixed model in SAS considering diet as the fixed effect and pen and block as random effects. The results of this study showed that there were no treatment differences (P ≥ 0.13) in ADG, DMI, and G:F in growing, finishing lambs. Although no differences were reported under the conditions of the current study, producers should remain cautious when incorporating this ingredient into finishing diets as changes in by-product processing may negatively impact feed quality, and thus animal intake and growth.
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Keywords
lamb, sheep, dried distillers grains, average daily gain, dry matter intake, gain to feed ratio