Effect of feeding dried distillers' grains with solubles to broiler chickens from day 0 to 21

Highlights

• Dried distillers' grains with solubles did not affect feed intake of broiler chickens.

• Inclusion rate of DDGS up to 160 g/kg did not affect growth performance of broiler chickens.

• Blood uric acid and albumin were linearly increased with DDGS inclusion.

• The relative weight of the large intestine at d 21 was increased with DDGS inclusion.

• Jejunal crypt depth was linearly reduced with DDGS inclusion.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of inclusion rates of corn dried distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS) on broiler chicken diets from d 0 to 21, and its effects on growth performance, intestinal morphology, blood metabolites, carcass and cut yields, and meat quality. A total of 980 one-day-old male broiler chickens were assigned to 7 diets (0, 10, 40, 70, 100, 130, and 160 g DDGS/kg) with 7 pens per treatment and 20 broiler chickens per pen in a completely randomized design. Data were analyzed by orthogonal polynomials, and the regression analysis was performed when a linear or quadratic effect was statistically significant; significance was considered at a level of 5%. Experimental diets with DDGS were included from d 0 to 21, and in the periods from d 21 to 33 and 33 to 42, common diets without DDGS were provided. Inclusion of DDGS in the broiler chicken diets did not affect the weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass, and cut yields. Feed intake was not altered from d 0 to 21, however, it had a quadratic effect from d 0 to 42 (P = 0.013). There was a linear increase (P < 0.001) in the relative weight of large intestine at d 21. Jejunal villi height was quadratically affected (P < 0.001), and the lowest villus height was observed at 91.54 g DDGS/kg. There was a linear reduction in jejunal crypt depth (P < 0.001) and a quadratic effect on villus: crypt ratio (P < 0.001) where the lowest value was estimated at 46 g DDGS/kg and 6.89 for villus: crypt ratio. There was a quadratic effect for breast meat pH 15 min postmortem (P = 0.017) and the lowest value was estimated at the inclusion of 79.25 g DDGS/kg and the pH 6.47. The DDGS can be included in broiler chicken diets up to 160 g DDGS/kg from d 0 to 21 without affecting growth performance, carcass and cuts yield, and meat quality of broiler chickens up to d 42.

Introduction

Corn dried distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS) is a byproduct obtained from the ethanol industry, it has been widely used in broilers feeding, and can contribute to reducing productive costs in poultry nutrition (Silva et al., 2016). This byproduct contains all the components from the grain in which it was obtained (Babcock et al., 2008; Swiatkiewicz and Koreleski, 2008), except for the starch, used for ethanol production. Thus, the fibrous components, lipids, minerals, and protein are concentrated in the DDGS (Trupia et al., 2016).

The major obstacle to use these byproducts as DDGS in poultry diets is the high variability in nutrient concentrations and quality among different sources of the byproduct (Belyea et al., 2010; Pedersen et al., 2014) which, may depend on the proportion of soluble added to distillery grains (DDG), efficiency of starch to ethanol conversion, temperature and time of drying (Martinez-Amezcua et al., 2007; Trupia et al., 2016).

Broiler chicks are very sensitive to feed quality, thus, recent studies have recommended the inclusion of DDGS at low inclusion rates, in the starter phase of development, aiming to allow the conditioning of birds intestinal tract, before being exposed to higher concentrations during the grower and finisher phases (Loar et al., 2010; Abudabos et al., 2017), because DDGS has high fiber content and lower amino acid digestibility (Martinez-Amezcua et al., 2007; Abudabos et al., 2017).

Abudabos et al. (2017) indicated a maximum DDGS inclusion of 60 g DDGS/kg for the starter phase, and 120 g DDGS/kg in the grower and finisher phases, because the authors observed a reduction on growth performance of broiler chickens from d 1 to 35, by increasing inclusion rates of 0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 g DDGS/kg in the diet. However, Choi et al. (2008) fed broiler chickens from d 8 to 29 to diets with increasing DDGS inclusion (up to 150 g DDGS/kg) and did not observe negative effects on the performance and meat quality which, was attributed to the similar nutritional balance in experimental diets. Similarly, Loar et al. (2012) did not obtain effects in broiler chickens with inclusions up to 80 g DDGS/kg.

Thus, it is hypothesized that DDGS inclusion rates on broiler chicken diets from d 0 to 21 and a common diet from d 21 to 42 can maintain its growth performance and meat quality. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum inclusion rate of DDGS on broiler chicken diets from d 0 to 21, evaluating different inclusion rates and its effects on growth performance, blood metabolites, organs weight, intestine length and morphometry, carcass yield and meat quality.