Growth Response and Feed Utilization of Juvenile Hybrid Catfish Fed Diets Containing Distiller’s Dried Grains with Solubles to Replace a Combination of Soybean Meal and Corn Meal

• Published in: North American journal of aquaculture 2010-10, Vol.72 (4), p.298-303
• Main Authors: Zhou, Ping, Zhang, Wenbing, Davis, D. Allen, Lim, Chhorn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aquariums; catfish; corn meal; distillers grains; experimental diets; feed conversion; fish feeding; Freshwater; hybrids; Ictalurus furcatus; Ictalurus punctatus; lysine; protein efficiency ratio; protein sources; soybean meal; weight gain
• ISSN: 1548-8454; 1522-2055; 0033-0779; 1548-8454; 1548-8640
• DOI: 10.1577/A10-002.1

A feeding trial was conducted in aquaria with juveile hybrid catfish (channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus X blue catfish I. furcatus) to evaluate distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as a replacement for a combination of soybean meal (SBM) and corn meal (CM). Twenty-five 75-L glass aquaria were each stocked with 30 juvenile hybrid catfish (initial weight = 1.16-1.25 g). Five replicates were randomly assigned to each of five dietary treatments. Diet 1, the basal diet, contained 32% SBM and 20% CM (no DDGS and no lysine supplementation) and was based on a practical diet formulatd for channel catfish. Diet 2 contained 20% DDGS and 0% lysine supplementation; diet 3 contained 20% DDGS and 0.10% lysine supplementation; diet 4 contained 30% DDGS and 0% lysine supplementation; and diet 5 contained 30% DDGS and 0.20% lysine supplementation. Fish were fed at a restricted rate equaling 5% of wet body weight twice daily for 8 weeks. There were no significant differences in percent weight gain or final weight among the four treatments with DDGS supplements. However, weight gain and final weights fo fish offered diet 1 were significantly poorer than those of fish offered diets 3-5. These diets also produced significantly lower feed conversion ratios and higher protein efficiency ratios than diet 1. Results of the present study indicate that the diets formulated with 30% DDGS using the reported combination of other protein sources were not deficient in lysine and supported good growth and feed utilization in juvenile hybrid catfish.