Feeding Wheat Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles to Broilers

To determine the impact of including wheat DDGS in broiler diets on nutrient excretion and phosphorus characterization and solubility, 125 one-day-old male broiler chicks were fed wheat- and soybean meal-based diets containing 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20% wheat DDGS. There were five replicate pens per treatment, with five birds per pen arranged in a randomized block design. Apparent retention of both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) was determined by using the indicator method. Nutrients excreted per kilogram of dry matter (DM) intake were also calculated. The apparent retention of both N (P < 0.001) and P (P < 0.008) decreased linearly with increasing inclusion rates of DDGS from 0 to 20%. The nutrient output per kilogram of DM intake increased linearly with increased DDGS inclusion rate for N (P < 0.04), P (P < 0.0001), and WSP (P < 0.0003). As the inclusion rate of DDGS increased, the P concentration in excreta increased (P < 0.008), whereas excreta phytate P concentrations decreased (P < 0.01), which led to an increase in water soluble P and the fraction of total P that was soluble. Because the inclusion of wheat DDGS in poultry diets increased N and P output, as well as the solubility of P excreted, the authors indicated that care should be taken when including high levels of wheat DDGS in poultry diets, because increases in N and P excretion are a concern from an environmental standpoint.

Leytem, A.B. and co-workers. 2008. Nutrient excretion, phosphorus characterization, and phosphorus solubility in excreta from broiler chicks fed diets containing graded levels of wheat distillers grains with solubles. Poultry Sci. (87): 2505-2511.