Effect of corn distillers dried grains with solubles on growth performance and health status indicators in weanling pigs

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate effects of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) on growth performance and health status of weanling pigs. Experiment 1 evaluated effects of increasing concentrations of DDGS on growth performance and health of weanling pigs. Dietary treatments included 1) control (CTL), 2) 0% DDGS (0% DDGS in phase 2 and 30% DDGS in phase 3), 3) 5% DDGS (5% DDGS in phase 2 and 30% DDGS in phase 3), and 4) 30% DDGS (phases 2 and 3). Overall, pigs fed 30% DDGS during phases 2 and 3 had decreased (22.1 vs. 25.1 and 24.0 kg; P = 0.003) BW compared with CTL pigs and pigs that only received DDGS during phase 3. In addition, pigs fed 5 or 30% DDGS in phase 2 had decreased (422.7 or 390.0 vs. 468.2 g; P = 0.003) ADG compared with CTL pigs. However, pigs fed 0% DDGS during phase 2 had similar BW, ADG, and ADFI compared with CTL pigs. Experiment 2 was conducted to evaluate effects of DDGS, lactose, and their interaction on growth performance and health of weanling pigs. Dietary treatments included 1) CTL, 2) lactose (20%), 3) DDGS (15%), and 4) lactose + DDGS. Diets of interest were fed during phase 1 (d 0 to 14), and a common diet was fed during phase 2 (d 14 to 28). Pigs receiving DDGS in phase 1 had greater ADG (576.2 vs. 534.6 g; P = 0.01) and ADFI (814.9 vs. 751.6 g; P = 0.01) during phase 2 compared with non-DDGS-fed pigs. Pigs receiving lactose during phase 1 had greater ADG (214.7 vs. 177.2 g; P = 0.01) and G:F (741.0 vs. 660.3 g/kg; P = 0.01) and tended to have greater ADFI (289.3 vs. 267.6 g; P = 0.07) during phase 1 but decreased (537.7 vs. 573.1 g; P = 0.09) ADG during phase 2. Serum immunoglobulin analyses and fecal microbial profiling were conducted in both experiments as indicators of health status. No effects of dietary treatment were observed for serum immunoglobulin in either experiment. Fecal microbial profiling resulted in statistically significant effects of dietary treatment with respect to microbial similarity and diversity indices (Exp. 1) and lactic acid-producing bacteria (Exp. 2), where main effects of both lactose and DDGS were observed with respect to putative Lactobacillus reuteri (P < 0.05). Results from Exp. 1 indicate that decreased concentrations of DDGS early in the nursery phase may negatively affect growth performance; however, growth performance may be maintained when inclusion of high concentrations (30%) of DDGS is delayed until the late nursery period. Results from Exp. 2 indicate that lactose may be incorporated in nursery diets containing DDGS to help maintain growth performance, and DDGS and lactose may affect fecal microbial profiles.