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Effects of condensed distillers solubles to wet distillers grains ratio on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of condensed distiller’s solubles (CDS) to wet distillers grains (WDG) ratio on growth performance and carcass characteristicsof growing-finishing pigs fed by a liquid feeding system.A total of 280 pigs were blocked by initial BW (30.1 ±5.1 kg) and gender, and pens of pigs (10 pigs/pen) were allocated randomly to 1 of 4 dietary treatments (7 pens/treatment): 1) 30% DDGS; 2) 30% WDG; 3) 25% WDG plus 5% CDS; or 4) 20% WDG plus 10% CDS. The Big Dutchman automated liquid feeding system recorded daily pen feed intake, which was automatically adjusted, based on a reference feed intake curve during the 90-day and three-phase trial. Pen was the experimental unit. Data were analyzed by the MIXED procedure of SAS, with treatment as a fixed effect and block as a random effect. Significant level was set at the level of 0.05.The overall ADG was 0.911, 0.923, 0.968, and 0.971 kg/d, ADFI on a dry matter basis 2.34, 2.18, 2.38, and 2.31 kg/d, and gain to feed ratio 0.392, 0.425, 0.408, and 0.424, for treatments 1 to 4, respectively. Pigs fed 25% WDG plus 5% CDS had greater (P < 0.05) ADG than those fed 30% DDGS between 60 and 90 kg, but ADG was not affected (P > 0.05) by dietary treatment during the other feeding phases or across the entire trial. No difference (P >0.05) in ADFI on a dry matter basis was observed across the treatments in all phases. Pigs fed 30% WDG had greater (P < 0.05) G:F than those fed 30% DDGS between 30 and 60 kg, but G:F was similar (P > 0.05) across treatments during the other periods. Dressing percent, backfat depth, and lean percentage were not (P > 0.05) affected by dietary treatment. However, LM depth was increased (P < 0.05) by the inclusion of CDS when compared with diets excluding CDS. The results indicate that the ratio of WDG to CDS may affect growth performance under our experimental conditions.
Keywords: liquid feeding, corn ethanol co-products ratio, pig