Effects of Corn Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles on Production and Egg Quality in Laying Hens

Corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a completely new feed ingredient in the Korean feed market. There is an ever increasing need for the Korean feed industry to import and make the best of it as a high protein and high energy feed ingredient. A layer feeding trial was conducted for 10 weeks to investigate the effects of addition of light-colored DDGS to layer diets on laying performance, egg qualities and yolk fatty acid composition. Also, the economics of using DDGS in the Korean situation was analyzed. Nine hundred Hy-line Brown layers, 24 weeks of age, were employed in a feeding trial consisting of four dietary treatments (0, 10, 15, and 20% DDGS), and five replicates per treatment. All experimental diets were prepared as iso-protein (17%) and iso-calorie (TMEn 2,780 kcal/kg). The use of DDGS up to 20% in layer diets did not exert any influence on feed intake, laying rate, total egg mass, mean egg weight and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05). The color and breaking strength of eggshell, as well as the albumin height and Haugh unit were not affected by the addition of DDGS up to 20% in the diet. The yolk color was significantly increased by DDGS supplementation (p<0.05). As the DDGS level increased, the oleic acid content decreased, and the linoleic acid increased (p<0.05) in egg yolk. The degree of saturation of yolk fatty acids was not affected by DDGS supplementation. The inclusion of light-colored DDGS up to 20% in layer diets resulted in a decrease of feed cost per kg without any undesirable effect on laying performance. In conclusion, the light-colored DDGS (L* 56.65) could be used up to 20% in layer diets without any harmful effect on laying performance, and possibly provide economic benefits to the Korean poultry industry.