Evaluation of wet, dried and ensiled spent brewer's grains as livestock feed

The nutritive value of the wet, dried and ensiled spent brewer's grains (WBG, DBG and EBG) was compared with soybean meal (SBM). The effective degradability (ED) of DM and CP in the feedstuffs were assessed using nylon bag method at rumen out flow rate of 0.08. An in-vivo digestibility trial was conducted with four wethers to determine the digestible organic matter content and to estimate the metabolisable energy content. ED of DM for DB, WB, EB and SBM were 39.3, 42.6, 52 and 48.8% respectively. The fill unit values for DB, WB, EB and SBM were 0.45, 0.42, 0.34 and 0.35 respectively. ED of CP for DB, WB, EB and SBM were 40.6, 45.8, 65and 62% respectively. The DOMD values were 633.5, 632.5, 642.5 and 838.5 g/kg DM for DB, WB, EB and SBM respectively. Drying and ensiling of spent brewer's grains are practical and suitable methods for preservation of this by product.