Effect of feeding rice distillers dried grains with solubles with or without enzymes on growth performance in broilers

Abstract

A feeding trial was carried out in the Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bengaluru, to assess the impact of incorporating rice distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in broiler diets, with or without supplemental enzymes, over a six-week period. In total, 240 day-old Cobb broiler chicks were assigned to eight dietary treatments, each comprising three replicates of ten birds. All diets were formulated according to BIS (2007) [3] guidelines to be iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous, and included rice DDGS at 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5%, with or without 0.02% enzyme addition; the control group received a standard basal diet. The findings revealed no significant (P > 0.05) differences among treatments in body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and survivability. These results suggest that rice DDGS can be safely incorporated up to 7.5% in broiler rations, irrespective of enzyme supplementation, without compromising growth performance.