Effect of Soymeal Replacement with Distillers Dried Grain Solubles (DDGS) on the Performance of Layers

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the inclusion of distillers dried grains with Solubles (DDGS) in commercial white leghorn layers’ diet. One hundred commercial white leghorn layers of 28 weeks old were randomly distributed in 5 treatments with 5 replications of 4 birds each. Distillers Dried grains with Solubles (DDGS) was incorporated at 0.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0% into a basal diet, which represented, 0 (control), 10, 20, 30 and 40% soymeal replacement with DDGS, respectively. Layer performance, egg quality and nutrient digestibility were evaluated. The feed intake and body weight were not affected by soymeal replacement up to 40% level. The feed conversion ratio was better (P<0.05) at 10% replacement level. The egg quality characteristics viz. egg shell weight, shell thickness, shape index, albumen index, Haugh unit and yolk index did not show any significant difference among the treatments. The egg production rate was higher (P<0.05) at 10% soymeal replacement level. The egg production decreased significantly (P<0.05) at 40% replacement level.