Inclusion of corn ethanol byproducts in non-forage diets and their effects on feed intake, digestibility, growth performance, and blood parameters of young Nellore bulls
Victória Curvo Ormond A , Joanis Tilemahos Zervoudakis B , Mozart Alves Fonseca C , Rafaela Juliana Jardim Cunha A , Edjane Pereira Silva A , Reginaldo Martins de Sousa
A , Tayane Barbosa Pereira A , Flávio Augusto Portela Santos D and Nelcino Francisco de Paula A *
A
B
C
D
Abstract
Distillers grains can be used in ruminant diets as sources of protein and energy. Recent technology has allowed to remove the fiber of the corn grain before fermentation. Fiber can be combined with condensed distillers solubles to obtain other new ethanol byproducts, such as dry fiber plus solubles (DFS). The animal response to new byproducts needs to be evaluated.
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of DFS and dry distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) on feed intake, digestibility, performance, and blood metabolites of growing beef cattle, to partially replace ground corn and completely replace soybean meal and cottonseed cake in non-forage diets.
Twenty-four young Nellore bulls (initial body weight of 276 ± 37 kg, and age of 12 ± 3 months) were randomly distributed into 12 pens, using a completely randomized block design. Treatments were: (1) CON – control diet with conventional ingredients (soybean hulls, ground corn, soybean meal, cottonseed cake, urea and mineral mix; CP in diet = 148 g/kg); (2) DFS – diet with inclusion of 30% DFS (CP in diet = 143 g/kg); and (3) DDGS – diet with inclusion of 30% DDGS (CP in diet = 185 g/kg). The CON diet was formulated to an average daily gain (ADG) of 0.8 kg.
The inclusion of DFS and DDGS increased dry matter intake (DMI; kg per animal per day) compared with CON diet (P = 0.021); however, DMI was not affected when measured in g per kg BW (P > 0.05). The CP, ether extract (EE) and NDF intake were highest for DDGS, intermediate for DFS and lowest for CON (P < 0.010). The inclusion of DFS and DDGS improved nutrient digestibility compared to the CON diet (P < 0.05). The ADG and feed conversion were higher (P < 0.05) for the animals receiving the DDGS compared to CON and DFS, which did not differ from each other. The total predicted metabolizable protein supply was highest for DDGS, intermediate for DFS, and lowest for CON (P < 0.001). Treatments showed no effects on serum indicators (P > 0.05), though trends were observed for urea (P = 0.070) and albumin (P = 0.087) levels.
The inclusion of 30% DDGS supports greater productive performance, likely due to the increased supply of nutrients, particularly metabolizable protein and net energy.
Corn ethanol byproducts (DDGS and DFS) can completely replace protein sources and partially replace corn in non-forage diets.
Keywords: beef cattle, DDGS, diet without forage, digestibility, distillers’ grains, dry fiber with solubles, feed efficiency, growth performance.
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