Poultry

Effects of Increasing Concentrations of Corn Dried Distiller’s Grains with Solubles on the Egg Production and Internal Quality of Eggs

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Abstract

Four diets were formulated to contain 0, 17, 35 or 50% corn DDGS. A total of 240 54-week-old single-comb White Leghorn laying hens were assigned to one of four dietary treatments and fed for a 24-week experimental period. Two sets of the experimental diets were formulated and each diet was fed for 12 weeks. Egg production, feed consumption, egg component, yolk color, Haugh unit during storage times, and shell breaking strength were measured. Egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, and feed efficiency were adversely affected by the highest level of DDGS in the diet (50%) during the first 12-week period. Once diets were reformulated to include an increased concentration of both lysine and methionine, differences among the dietary treatments were reduced, as the performance of the 50% DDGS diets was greatly improved. Over the last 6 weeks of study, no differences in egg production, egg weight and feed intake among the DDGS treatments were found. DDGS diets positively affected the internal quality of eggs during storage. Improved yolk color and Haugh unit were observed as the dietary DDGS levels increased, but the increase in Haugh unit was significant only when the DDGS level was 50%. Shell weight percentage was increased in 50% DDGS diet. It was suggested that up to 50% of DDGS could be included in the layer’s diet without affecting egg weight, feed intake, egg mass, fee efficiency, and egg production as long as digestible amino acids were sufficient in DDGS-added diets.

Keywords: Animal Science

How to Cite:

Sun, H., Lee, E., Samaraweera, H., Persia, M. E. & Ahn, D. U., (2014) “Effects of Increasing Concentrations of Corn Dried Distiller’s Grains with Solubles on the Egg Production and Internal Quality of Eggs”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 11(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ans_air-180814-1183