Assessment of egg quality and gut environment of layer hens fed diets formulated with varying levels of wheat distillers dark grains with solubles (W-DDGS)

摘要

Increasing amounts of the co-product W-DDGS are being generated from the Bioethanol industry. Accordingly, there is much interest in quantifying the nutritional value of UK W-DDGS as a feed for various livestock species. The rationale for the currentstudy arose from concerns from the commercial laying sector that W-DDGS inclusion could lead to increased fermentation of pentose sugar in the caeca of layer hens, thus leading to the recognised problem of "tarry" eggs. The objective of the current trial was to examine egg quality, egg output and gut environment of layer hens fed diets containing graded levels of W-DDGS in balanced diets.