The impact of feeding corn dried distillers grains with solubles on milk yield and composition in lactating Awassi ewes and digestibility and N partitioning in Awassi ewe lambs

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of diets ‘fed to lactating Awassi ewes’ containing increasing concentrations of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), replacing barley grain, soybean meal and wheat straw.

	Diets^a
Item	CON	DDGS200	DDGS300
Ingredients, gkg^−^1 DM
Barley grain	540	490	470
Soybean meal, 440 gkg^−1 CP (solvent)	170	70	20
Dried distillers grains with solubles	0	200	300
Wheat straw	270	220	190
Salt	10	10	10
Limestone	10	10	10
Mineral vitamin premix^b	+	+	+
Feed cost/ton (US$)^c	415	360	332
Nutrients, gkg^−1 DM
Dry matter	912	905	909
Crude protein	160	160	160
Neutral detergent fibre	292	298	298
Acid detergent fibre	189	172	161
Ether extract	19	24	27
Sulphur^d	1.7	3.1	3.8

^aDiets contained (1) no DDGS (CON), (2) 200 ghx00A0;kg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS200) or 300 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS300) of dietary dry matter (DM). ^bMineral vitamin premix contained per kg (vitamin A, 600,000 U; vitamin D3, 200,000 U; vitamin E, 75 mg, vitamin K3, 200 mg; vitamin B1, 100 mg; vitamin B5, 500 mg; lysine 0.5 g/100 g; dl-methionine, 0.15 g/100 g; manganese oxide, 4000 mg; ferrous sulphate, 15,000 mg; zinc oxide, 7000; magnesium oxide, 4000 mg; potassium iodide, 80 mg; sodium selenite, 150 mg; copper sulphate, 100 mg; cobalt phosphate, 50 mg, dicalcium phosphate, 10,000 mg. ^cCalculated based on the prices of diet ingredients of the year 2018. ^dSulphur was calculated based on tabular values of NRC (2007).

Table 2. Nutrient intake in nursing Awassi ewes fed diets containing increasing concentration of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), replacing barley grain, soybean meal and wheat straw.

	Diets^c
Item	CON	DDGS200	DDGS300	SEM
Intake, g/d
Dry matter	2678^a	2424^b	2423^b	113.6
Crude protein	428^a	387^b	388^b	18.2
Neutral detergent fibre	782	721	722	33.7
Acid detergent fibre	507^a	417^b	390^b	19.4
Ether extract	51^b	58^a	64^a	2.8

^a,b Within a row, means without a common superscript differ (p < .05).

^c Diets were (1) no DDGS (CON), (2) 200 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS200) or 300 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS300) of dietary dry matter (DM).

Table 3. Body weight change in lactating Awassi ewes and their lamb fed diets containing increasing concentrations of dried distillers grains with solubles  (DDGS) replacing barley grain, soybean meal and wheat straw.

	Diets^a
Item	CON	DDGS200	DDGS300	SEM
Ewe
Initial BW, kg	50	49.20	49.90	2.06
Final BW, kg	53.20	53.30	54.50	2.33
BW change, kg	3.20	4.08	4.60	2.05
Lambs
Initial BW, kg	5.30	4.90	4.80	0.37
Final BW, kg	18.20	18.10	18.40	0.94
Total gain, kg	12.90	13.20	13.50	0.85
ADG, g	231	237	242	15.20

^aDiets were (1) no DDGS (CON), (2) 200 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS200) or 300 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS300) of dietary dry matter (DM).

Table 4. Milk yield and composition in nursing Awassi ewes fed diets containing increasing concentrations of dried distillers grains with solubles  (DDGS) replacing barley grain, soybean meal and wheat straw.

	Diets^c
Item	CON	DDGS200	DDGS300	SEM
Milk yield, g/d	953^b	1167^a	1189^a	74
Milk composition, gkg^−1
Fat	50	50.30	50	0.63
Protein	57.40	57.60	58.80	1.68
Total solids	159	159	163	5.50
Milk yield, g/d
Fat	47.70^a	58.50^b	58.70^b	3.80
Protein	54.40^a	66.90^b	69.00^b	7.45
Total solids	152.60^a	185.80^a,b	191.40^b	14.35
Cost/kg milk yield (US$)^d	1.28^b	0.86^a	0.71^a	0.52

^a,bWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ (p<.05).^cDiets were (1) no DDGS (CON), (2) 200 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS200) or 300 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS300) of dietary dry matter (DM). ^dCost was calculated by dividing the daily feed cost by milk yield.

Table 5. Nutrient digestibility and N partitioning fed diets containing increasing concentrations of dried distillers grains with solubles  (DDGS) replacing barley grain, soybean meal and wheat straw (Exp. 2).

	Diets^c
Item	CON	DDGS200	DDGS300	SEM
Digestibility coefficients
Dry matter	0.73^b	0.77^a	0.75^a	0.01
Crude protein	0.74^b	0.78^a	0.76^a,b	0.01
Neutral detergent fibre	0.59^b	0.65^a	0.63^a,b	0.02
Acid detergent fibre	0.45^b	0.53^a	0.51^a	0.02
N partitioning
N intake, g/d	28.60^b	28.70^b	29.70^a	0.42
N faeces, g/d	7.40	6.20	7.40	0.40
N urine, g/d	9.50	8.50	8.30	0.68
N retained, g/d	11.70^b	14.00^a	14.60^a	0.69
N retention, %	40.90^b	49.10^a	49.10^a	2.58

^a,bWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ (p<.05). ^cDiets contained (1) no DDGS (CON), (2) 200 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS200) or 300 gkg⁻¹ DDGS (DDGS300) of dietary dry matter (DM).

NRC 2007. Nutrient requirements of small ruminants: sheep, goats, cervide, and new world camelids. Washington (DC): National Academy of Sciences.

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