Effect of distillers dried grains with soluble (DDGS) supplemented with or without enzyme on the performance of growing rabbits

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Animal Production Research, Institute Agriculture Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Afactorial experiment (4×2) was carried out including four levels of corn distiller dried grain with solubles(DDGS)( 0,16,22 and 28% )and two levelsof supplemental enzyme (0.0 and 0.5 gm/Zylamkg diet). A total number of 96New Zealand(NZW) rabbitsat5 wks old wereweighed andrandomlydistributed intothe8 treatmentgroups(12 rabbits, each)in three replicates (4rabbits, each).Growth performance,economicefficiency,apparentdigestibility and carcass traits as well as blood plasma constituents were studied during thegrowing period (5-14 weeks).Results show that no significant differences inlive body weight (LBW),body weight gain (BWG)andfeed intake(FI )were observed by different levels ofinclusion DDGS,enzymesupplementation or theinteraction between their in rabbit dietsexcept BWG during 12-14 weeks of age,which it was significantly (P<0.05) improved by feeding different levels of DDGS. Inclusion of 22 and 28 % DDGS in growing rabbit diets had significantly improvedfeed conversion ratio(FCR), protein efficiency ratio(PER)andperformance index(PI)as compared with the control duringthe whole experimental period. However, increasing DDGS to 22 or 28% in growing rabbit diets significantly decreasedenergy efficiency utilization (EEU)as compared with the control during overall experimental period.Economic efficiency(EEF )% were affected by DDGS inclusion during the whole experiment period , group of rabbitsfed diets containing 28% DDGS exhibited the best EEF valueas compared to control diets.All digestibility coefficientofnutrients and nutritive value were insignificantly improved byDDGS , enzyme supplementation and their interaction . Eviscerated carcass, total edible parts and abdominal fat percentages were insignificantly higher by increasing DDGS and enzyme addition levels as compared to control diets during the growth period. The DDGS had no significant effect on plasma total protein, total cholesterol,aspartate aminotransferase (AST),alanine aminotransferase (ALT)and creatinine, while, it is had significantly(p<0.01)decreasing total lipids as compared to the control. 84HUSSEIN & EL DESOKYHowever, enzyme addition hadnotsignificant effects on all plasma constituents except of total lipids which significantly increased by enzyme addition only as compared to the control .In conclusion, the present results show that DDGS can beusedsuccessfully in growing rabbitfeeding effectively and economically upto28 % without adverse effect on growth performance. Carcass traits, blood constituents and animal health in general.

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