Growth Performance of Nursery Pigs Fed 30% Distillers Dried Grain with Solubles (DDGS) and the Effects of Pelleting on Performance and Nutrient Digestibility (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION There has been a rapid increase in the use of distillers dried grain with solubles (DDGS) in late nursery pigs with the increase in price of corn, soybean meal and phosphorus. The inclusion rates of DDGS in late nursery diet have been reported at 22.5% (Barbosa et al., 2008), 25% (Whitney and Shurson, 2004) or 30% (Gaines et al., 2006; Spencer et al., 2007; Burkey et al., 2008), without affecting ADG of the pigs. A decreased ADFI by inclusion of DDGS was reported by Gaines et al. (2006), Barbosa et al. (2008) and Burkey et al. (2008). Improved G:F was reported by Gaines et al. (2006), Feoli et al. (2007), Spencer et al. (2007), and Barbosa et al. (2008). Pelleting of corn-soybean meal based diets improved digestibility of most nutrients and energy (Noblet and Champion, 2003; Noblet and Jaguelin, 2008), which indicated that the nutrient digestibility could be improved by pelleting process. However, we are not aware of any data on effects of pelleting diets containing high level of DDGS on nutrient digestibility and nursery pig performance.