Effect of inclusion of increasing amounts of DDGS on the dietary AMEn and fat digestibility in broilers

Because of its high protein content, ‘dried distillers grains with solubles’ (DDGS) is a potential alternative for the traditional protein sources in livestock feeds. In Europe mainly wheat based DDGS is produced. In order to determine the maximum inclusion level of a wheat based DDGS in broiler diets, a multi-level experiment was designed during which the effect on nitrogen-corrected metabolizable energy (AMEn) and dietary fat digestibility was studied. A wheat/corn/triticale (70/20/10) based DDGS was introduced in a basal broiler growth diet at 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24%, respectively. Chromic oxide was used as inert marker. Each diet was fed to 6 groups of 4 broilers. After 6 days of adaptation, the 4 day balance trial was executed between 18 and 22 days of age. Through analysis of nutrients and chromic oxide in diets and feces, the digestibility of the diets was determined. Dietary AMEn amounted to 3219, 3207, 3170, 3067 and 2923 kcal/kg fresh weight (FW) at an inclusion of 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24% DDGS, respectively. Statistical analysis showed a significant decrease of the dietary AMEn with increasing amounts of DDGS. However, dietary fat digestibility was not depressed with increasing inclusion level and amounted to 72, 75, 75, 73 and 70%, respectively.