Scope for the high inclusion of sorghum distillers' dried grains with solubles in broiler chicken diets

Abstract

Distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are increasingly becoming important in poultry feeding. Research into the use of this material has focused largely on maize DDGS from North America and less work has been done on the predominantly sorghum DDGS that are produced in Australia. In preliminary tests, we investigated the variation in nutrient composition of sorghum DDGS and then conducted a feeding trial on broiler chickens. The trial involved 432 day-old male broiler chicks in a 4 x 2 factorial layout (4 levels of DDGS inclusion - 0, 100, 200 or 300 g/kg with or without a xylanase enzyme, Ronozyme WX), over 21 days on starter diets and subsequently on finisher diets to 35d of age. Compared to the control diet, feed intake was significantly increased (P<0.001) with the inclusion of dietary DDGS in the diet during the first three weeks and the entire period of this study. There was no effect on body weight gain (BWG) from the addition of dietary DDGS or xylanase. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) deteriorated significantly (P<0.05) with the rising level of DDGS in diets during the first 3 weeks of feeding. Over that period, the effect of xylanase supplementation was not significant at up to 200 g/kg DDGS inclusion. However, in birds fed 300 g/kg DDGS, the FCR was significantly improved (P<0.05) by the addition of xylanase, over the starter and the entire feeding period of the study, with birds ending up with similar body weight but tending to consume less feed as a result of xylanase addition.