PSIV-4 The Impacts of Feeding Corn Co-products and Ionophores to Growing Boer Goats

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate corn dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed (CGF) as replacements for soybean meal (SBM) and determine the impact of an ionophore on Boer goat growth performance and carcass characteristics. In Exp. 1, 75 Boer-goat kids (initial BW 26.9 ± kg) were allotted to one of 5 dietary treatments: 1) Negative control (100% SBM, 0% DDGS and 0% CGF; 100SBM); 2) Positive control (100% DDGS, 0% CGF and 0% SBM; 100DDGS); 3) 66% DDGS, 33% CGF and 0% SBM (66DDGS/33CGF); 4) 66% CGF, 33% DDGS and 0% SBM (33DDGS/66 CGF); and 5) 100% CGF, 0% DDGS and 0% SBM (0DDGS/100CGF). Dietary treatment did not impact (P ≤ 0.21) growth. In Exp. 2, 72 Boer-goat kids (initial BW 21.7 ± kg) were allotted to one of 4 dietary treatments in a 2 X 2 factorial with 2 protein sources and 2 ionophore inclusions: 1) SBM/no ionophore (SBM-NI); Diet 2) SBM with ionophore (SBM-I); Diet 3) DDGS/no ionophore (DDGS-NI); and Diet 4) DDGS with ionophore (DDGS-I). On d 21, goats were split into 2 groups according to their protein source and fed an additional d 10 (Group 1: DDGS-I; Group 2: SBM-I). The 15 heaviest goats from each group were harvested and carcass data collected. The protein source X ionophore interaction was not significant (P ≥ 0.15) for any measured response criteria. Goats fed a diet with SBM had significantly increased (P = 0.04) ADG compared to goats fed DDGS. No evidence of difference was observed (P ³ 0.10) for ADFI or G:F. Dietary treatment did not impact (P > 0.05) carcass characteristics. In summary, these data suggest that corn co-products can be economically included in Boer-goat diets, however their impact on growth performance is variable compared to that of soybean meal.