Department of Animal Science
Date of this Version
2011
Abstract
A 4-week feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate effects of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and lactose on growth performance of nursery pigs. Ninety-six pigs (age, 23 + 2 days; initial body weight, 14.15 + 0.11 lb) were randomly allotted into each of 16 pens by gender, ancestry, and weight (6 pigs/pen; 4 pens/treatment). In phase 1 (weeks 1 and 2), pigs were fed 1 of the 4 treatments: A) control (no DDGS and lactose), B) 15% DDGS, C) 20% lactose, D) 15% DDGS + 20% lactose. In phase 2 (weeks 3 and 4), all pigs were fed a common diet containing 15% DDGS and 10% lactose. Diets were formulated to contain 1.47 and 1.42% true ileal digestible Lys in phase 1 and 2, respectively. Pigs receiving DDGS in phase 1 (Treatments B and D) had greater ADG and ADFI (P = 0.05 and 0.004, respectively) during phase 2 compared to non-DDGS fed pigs in phase 1 (Treatment A and C); however, no DDGS effects were observed on ADG, ADFI, and G:F in phase 1. Pigs receiving lactose in Phase 1 (Treatments C and D) had 21% greater ADG, 12% greater G:F (P = 0.01), and a trend of increased ADFI (P = 0.07) during phase 1, but decreased ADG during phase 2 (P = 0.09) compared to pigs that did not receive lactose in phase 1 (Treatments A and B). In conclusion, although there was no interaction between DDGS and lactose in any phase of this experiment, it appeared that lactose can be incorporated in nursery diets containing DDGS and have growth performance maintained.
Comments
Published in 2010 Nebraska Swine Report. Published by Extension Division, Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resouces, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Copyright ©2010 Regents of the University of Nebraska.