EFFECTS OF DRIED DISTILLERS GRAINS WITH SOLUBLES ON PRODUCTIVITY AND WELFARE OF GROWING PIGS

Abstract

To study the effect of wheat Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (wDDGS), in the Agricultural Institute, Shumen, was initiated a scientific and economic trial on a total of 48 pigs from the Danube White breed divided into 3 groups of 16 pigs each. The trial started immediately after pig weaning – at 10 kg live weight and ended at 30 kg. The pigs were allotted by pedigree, body weight, time of weaning, sex, age, and number. The animals were kept in group boxes of 8 heads and fed ad libitum. The pigs from the second and the third group received compound feeds with 30% wDDGS so to replace 61% of the soybean meal protein equivalent. The feed for the pigs in the third group was supplemented with 0.0175% enzyme preparation Hostazym Suis. Hostazym Suis contains mainly endo-1,4-beta-glucanase. It was established that the protein equivalent replacement of 61% of the soybean meal with 30% wDDGS had negative effect on growth and feed utilization in pigs from 10 to 30 kg live weight. The inclusion of the enzyme preparation containing mainly beta-glucanase in 30-%-wDDGS compound feeds resulted in improved average daily gain by 5.75% and feed conversion per 1 kg gain by 6.32% in pigs from 10 to 30 kg live weight. Feeding time also increased with the inclusion of 30% wDDGS in the compound feeds.