ver the course of three different research trials, more than 2,000 pigs were fed dried distiller's grains with solubles (DDGS) diets, which varied in a host of different ways.

DDGS + Enzymes in Nursery Diets

Researchers determined that adding commercial enzymes to typical corn-soybean meal-based diets had no effect on nursery pigs' average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) or feed/gain (F/G) ratio. Likewise, adding enzymes to diets with 15% or 30% corn or sorghum DDGS had no effect on these performance variables.

The KSU team says the research indicates the use of high levels of DDGS, up to 30%, in nursery pig diets, can be a viable option to reduce diet costs in light of increasing corn prices. However, the higher DDGS levels may reduce growth rates, they add.

Grow-Finish Results

In another trial, 1,032 pigs were followed through a 90-day grow-finish experiment to determine the effects of high levels of DDGS and enzyme supplementation on growth performance and carcass characteristics.

Researchers concluded that up to 60% DDGS for grow-finish pigs provides a good option to replace corn in the diet, inhibiting growth slightly, and the inclusion of enzymes had no significant impact on growth or feed efficiency.

If finishing spaces are available to accommodate pigs for several more days and the potential feed cost savings are greater than the extra space costs, using high levels of DDGS in growing-finishing diets is highly feasible.

This study indicates that up to 60% DDGS may be added to diets without adversely affecting growth or carcass yield, as long as DDGS levels are reduced to 20% for at least 12 days before slaughter. High DDGS levels will increase belly fat iodine values, which may affect carcass value.

Why Enzymes?

Europeans use enzymes to improve feed utilization and decrease the cost of gain when pigs are fed high-fiber diets.

Corn is highly digestible and has low fiber, so the addition of enzymes in corn-based diets has not shown an economic improvement in growth performance. However, because the starch fraction is removed, DDGS have a higher fiber fraction than corn, causing researchers to speculate that enzymes may be beneficial in U.S. diets containing DDGS.

KSU researchers evaluated the effects of different commercial enzymes in diets containing DDGS. Three of those trials are summarized below:

Nursery Trial — Experiment #1

The first nursery trial focused on the effects commercial enzymes could have in DDGS-based nursery diets. Two experiments were conducted.

The first utilized 180 pigs in a 27-day trial comparing weanling pig performance when three commercial enzyme products — Easyzyme, Hemicell-W and Porzyme — were added to diets containing 30% DDGS.

Pigs averaging 19.9 lb. were divided into six pens/treatment with six pigs/pen. Ad libitum access to feed and water was provided by one nipple waterer and one feeder/pen.

Enzyme inclusion levels were based on manufacturers' recommendations and guaranteed analysis. The five dietary treatments, fed in meal form, included:

• Positive control, corn-soybean meal-based diet;

• Control diet with 30% corn DDGS;

• Nursery Trial — Experiment 2

  30% DDGS diet with 0.05% Easyzyme;

• 30% DDGS diet with 0.05% Hemicell-W; and

• 30% DDGS diet with 0.05% Porzyme.

ADG, ADFI and F/G were determined by weighing pigs and measuring feed disappearance on Days 7, 14 and 27 of the trial. See Table 1 for diet analysis.

Overall, pigs fed the corn-soybean meal diet or the corn-soybean meal diet with 30% DDGS, with or without Porzyme, performed similarly for ADG, ADFI and F/G (Table 2). However, pigs fed diets containing Hemicell-W and Easyzyme had poorer ADG than pigs fed the positive control diet. Pigs fed the diet containing Hemicell-W also had lower ADG than pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing Porzyme. There were no differences in ADFI or F/G.

Continue on Page 2: Nursery Trial - Experiment 2