Lactation performance of dairy cows fed increasing concentrations of wheat dried distillers grains with solubles

• Published in: Journal of dairy science 2012-07, Vol.95 (7), p.3894-3904
• Main Authors: Abdelqader, M.M., Oba, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acids - blood; ammonium nitrogen; Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; Animal productions; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; blood glucose; Blood Glucose - analysis; Blood Urea Nitrogen; canola meal; Cattle; Cereal and baking product industries; corn; corn dried distillers grains with solubles; crude protein; dairy cows; dairy protein; Diet - veterinary; digestibility; distillers grains; dry matter intake; feed conversion; feed efficiency; Female; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Holstein; Insulin - blood; lactation; Lactation - physiology; lactose; metabolites; milk; milk fat; milk yield; nutrients; protein sources; Rumen - physiology; rumen fermentation; Terrestrial animal productions; Triticum; urea nitrogen; Vertebrates; wheat; wheat dried distillers grains with solubles; Zea mays
• ISSN: 0022-0302; 1525-3198
• DOI: 10.3168/jds.2011-4809

In Western Canada, dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is produced from mixtures of corn and wheat at variable ratios, and used as a source of dietary crude protein (CP) in diets of lactating dairy cows. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of increasing dietary allocation of wheat DDGS on dry matter intake, milk production, milk composition, feed efficiency, plasma metabolites, and ruminal fermentation of dairy cows in midlactation. Sixteen multiparous and 16 primiparous lactating Holstein cows were used in a replicated 4×4 Latin square design with 3-wk periods. Dietary treatments were a control diet containing canola meal as the primary protein source (CON) and diets containing increasing concentrations of wheat DDGS in place of corn DDGS (0, 50, and 100% of dietary DDGS allocation). The treatment protein sources supplied approximately 35% of dietary CP. Yields of milk, milk fat, lactose, and energy-corrected milk were greater for diets containing DDGS compared with the CON diet. Although cows fed the DDGS diets tended to have lower CP digestibility compared with those fed the CON diet, concentrations of ruminal ammonia nitrogen, plasma urea nitrogen, and milk urea nitrogen were higher, but milk protein concentration was lower for cows fed the DDGS diets. Although dry matter intake increased linearly as the dietary allocation of wheat DDGS increased, milk yield was not affected, thus decreasing feed efficiency linearly. Feeding increasing levels of wheat DDGS tended to decrease plasma glucose concentration linearly. Plasma Leu concentration decreased linearly and plasma Gln concentration increased linearly as dietary inclusion of wheat DDGS increased. Apparent total-tract digestibility of nutrients except for CP was not affected by dietary treatments. A mixture of wheat and corn DDGS seems to have similar feeding values to both DDGS sources and it can be used as an alternative protein source in diets for lactating dairy cows. However, replacing corn DDGS with wheat DDGS might decrease feed efficiency.