Voluntary intake and digestibility of distillery products for dry sows

Extract

Distillery products which are high in fibre have traditionally been fed only to ruminants, but might provide a cost effective feed for dry sows. If such bulky materials could be fed ad libitum, animal welfare might be enhanced by prolonging feeding time and providing the sows with a greater feeling of satiety in comparison with concentrate diets. To investigate such possibilities, voluntary intake and digestibility were determined with dry sows for three distillery products:

The three distillery products investigated were:

• 1) malt draff (MD), the barley residue remaining after starch extraction

• 2) maize curne gold (CG), evaporated spent wash plus maize cereal residue

• 3) wheat supergrains (SG), centrifuged spent wash plus wheat residue

Each material was offered ad libitum to three pens of 6 dry sows, initially in conjunction with 0.5 kg/sow/day of a balancer meal. The balancer meal contained barley (890 kg/t), limestone (100 kg/t) and a vitamin/trace element supplement at 4 times the normal inclusion rate (10 kg/t). Sows were grouped according to service date and allocated to the experimental treatments in early pregnancy. They were housed in straw bedded pens with individual stalls for feeding of the supplement. Voluntary intake, liveweight and backfat change were monitored over a minimum period of 9 weeks. Sows which failed to maintain acceptable body condition on this regime were given additional ground barley as the experiment progressed.