Maximum Dietary Content of Corn Dried Distiller’s Grains with Solubles in Diets for Laying Hens. Effects on Nitrogen Balance, Manure Excretion, Egg production, and Egg Quality

and Implications An experiment was conducted with 48 laying hens to determine the effects of high dietary contents of corn dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) on nitrogen and dry matter manure excretion as well as egg production and egg quality. Diets containing 0, 23, 46, and 69% corn DDGS were fed to laying hens for 8 weeks after an initial 4-weeklong transition period during which the dietary contents of corn DDGS were gradually increased. Egg production, egg weight, and feed consumption were measured weekly, whereas manure excretion and egg quality was measured after feeding the treatment diets for 6 weeks. Nitrogen consumption and excretion increased with increasing dietary corn DDGS contents. Egg production decreased linearly, whereas egg weight increased linearly, resulting in no significant change in overall egg output. Feed consumption increased linearly with increasing dietary corn DDGS content, causing an increase in manure dry matter excretion. It appears from this experiment that high dietary inclusion levels of corn DDGS can be fed to laying hens without adversely affecting egg production or egg quality. However, nutrient and manure dry matter excretion will increase.