Metabolizable energy value of dried corn distillers grains and corn distillers grains with solubles for 6-week-old broiler chickens

The objective of this study was to determine the ileal digestible energy (IDE), ME, and MEn contents of corn distillers grains (DDG) and corn distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) for 6-wk-old broiler chickens using a multiple linear regression method. The DDG and DDGS were incorporated into a corn-soybean meal-based reference diet at 3 levels (0, 300, or 600 g/kg) by replacing the energy-yielding ingredients. These 5 diets were fed to 120 male Ross 308 broilers from d 35 to 42 posthatch with 3 birds per cage and 8 replicate cages per diet in a randomized complete block design. The birds were fed a standard broiler starter diet from d 1 to 22 posthatch and a standard broiler grower diet from d 22 to 35 posthatch. The inclusion of DDG and DDGS linearly (P < 0.001) decreased ileal digestibility of DM, energy, and IDE. Supplementation of DDG (linearly and quadratically; P < 0.05) or DDGS (linearly; P < 0.05) decreased metabolizability of DM, N, energy, N-corrected energy, and ME and MEn. By regressing the DDG and DDGS-associated IDE intake in kilocalories against kilograms of DDG and DDGS intake, the IDE regression equation was Y = - 19 + 2,428 x DDG + 2,922 x DDGS, r(2) = 0.97, which indicates IDE values of 2,428 kcal/kg of DM for DDG and 2,922 kcal/kg of DM for DDGS. Similarly, the ME regression equation was Y = - 24 + 2,279 x DDG + 2,800 x DDGS, r(2) = 0.98, which implies ME values of 2,279 kcal/kg of DM for DDG and 2,800 kcal/kg of DM for DDGS. For MEn, the regression equation was Y = - 20 + 2,176 x DDG + 2,688 x DDGS, r(2) = 0.98, which suggests MEn values of 2,176 kcal/kg of DM for DDG and 2,688 kcal/kg of DM for DDGS. The IDE, ME, and MEn values of DDGS were higher (P < 0.01) than those of DDG. From these values, we calculated the advantages in IDE, ME, and MEn of DDGS over DDG used in this study to be 20, 23, and 24%, respectively.