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

Abstract

AbstractA feeding trial was conducted in aquaria with juvenile hybrid catfish (channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus × 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 formulated 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 of 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.