Inclusion of maize distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) associated with the use of metabolisability-enhancing additives in the diet of laying quails

This study aimed to incorporate maize distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) into the diet of laying Japanese quail, along with two feed additives, xylanase and a metabolizability enhancer based on clay and algae. A completely randomized design with four treatments, 7 replications, and 6 birds per experimental unit. The treatments were: control, reference diet; DDGS, diet formulated with the inclusion of 150 g/kg DDGS; DDGS + xi, diet formulated with the inclusion of 150 g/kg DDGS and 1 g/kg xylanase enzyme (on top); DDGS + caa, diet formulated with the inclusion of 150 g/kg DDGS and 10 g/kg clay and algae-based metabolizability enhancer (on top). The productive performance of the birds was analyzed in three periods of 21 days each, the quality of the eggs was also measured at the end of each period. No significant differences were observed between the treatments for the variables analyzed. However, for the production cost of feed, the diets containing DDGS showed savings of R$ 10 per 100 kg of feed. Maize DDGS can be included in the diet of laying Japanese quail at 150 g/kg because it has a lower production cost and does not affect egg performance and quality.

Key words
alternative feed; production costs; egg quality; egg production; sustainability