Amino acid digestibility and energy content of deoiled (solvent-extracted) corn distillers dried grains with solubles for swine and effects on growth performance and carcass characteristics

A study with 3 experiments was conducted to determine the AA digestibility and energy concentration of deoiled (solvent-extracted) corn distillers dried grains with solubles (dDGS) and to evaluate its effect on nursery pig growth performance, finishing pig growth performance, and carcass traits. In Exp. 1, a total of 5 growing barrows (initial BW = 30.8 kg) were fitted with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and allotted to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) a diet with dDGS as the sole protein source, or 2) a N-free diet for determining basal endogenous AA losses in a crossover design at 68.0 kg of BW. Apparent and standardized (SID) ileal digestibility of AA and energy concentration of dDGS were determined. In Exp. 2, a total of 210 pigs (initial BW = 9.9 kg) were used in a 28-d experiment to evaluate the effect of dDGS on nursery pig performance. Pigs were allotted to 5 dietary treatments (0, 5, 10, 20, or 30% dDGS) formulated to contain equal ME (increased added fat with increasing dDGS) and SID Lys concentrations based on the values obtained from Exp. 1. In Exp. 3, a total of 1,215 pigs (initial BW = 29.6 kg) were used in a 99-d experiment to determine the effect of dDGS on growth and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. Pigs were allotted to dietary treatments similar to those used in Exp. 2 and were fed in 4 phases. The analyzed chemical composition of dDGS in Exp. 1 was 35.6% CP, 5.29% ash, 4.6% fat, 18.4% ADF, and 39.5% NDF on a DM basis. Apparent ileal digestibility values of Lys, Met, and Thr in dDGS were 47.2, 79.4, and 64.1%, respectively, and SID values were 50.4, 80.4, and 68.9%, respectively. The determined GE and DE and the calculated ME and NE values of dDGS were 5,098, 3,100, 2,858, and 2,045 kcal/kg of DM, respectively. In Exp. 2, nursery pig ADG, ADFI, and G:F were similar among treatments. In Exp. 3, increasing dDGS reduced (linear; P < 0.01) ADG and ADFI but tended to improve (linear; P = 0.07) G:F. Carcass weight and yield were reduced (linear; P < 0.01), loin depth tended to decrease (linear; P = 0.09), and carcass fat iodine values increased (linear; P < 0.01) as dDGS increased. No difference was observed in backfat, percentage of lean, or fat-free lean index among treatments. In conclusion, dDGS had greater CP and AA but less energy content than traditional distillers dried grains with solubles. In addition, when dietary fat was added to diets to offset the reduced ME content, feeding up to 30% dDGS did not affect the growth performance of nursery pigs but did negatively affect the ADG, ADFI, and carcass fat quality of finishing pigs.