Palatability of a Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles for Swine

With the increasing number of new ethanol plants coming on line, there has been research interest in finding additional uses for dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of ethanol production. DDGS traditionally has been fed to ruminants since its low lysine and high fiber content has discouraged use in swine diets. Research was conducted to evaluate the effects of DDGS on feed intake in growing pigs. Each pen of pigs had access to a four one-hole feeders to allow the pigs to choose from four dietary treatments. A corn-soybean meal control diet was compared to a corn-soybean meal diet with 30 percent DDGS with different drying sub-treatments. Three studies were conducted and results indicated that pigs prefer corn-soybean diets to diets containing DDGS. The decreased palatability increased with increasing amounts of DDGS in the diet. The researchers concluded that although the nutrient content of DDGS make it an attractive ingredient for swine diets, palatability problems may affect pig performance, even when DDGS is included at low rates in the diet.

Hastad, C.W. and co-workers. 2005. Adding dried distillers grains to swine diets affects feed preference. Kansas State University, Swine Research-2005: p149-159.