Researchers examine wheat middlings and red dog as potential feed for livestock
By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Researchers are determining the feed value of wheat co-products for pigs and other livestock, which could help reduce feed costs.
Specifically, the researchers are examining red dog and wheat middlings.
Red dog in wheat is mostly made up of the aleurone layer between the bran and endosperm, along with small particles of other parts of the kernel, a University of Illinois release said yesterday.
Wheat middlings are granular particles of the wheat endosperm, bran, germ and aleurone layer.
These elements “contain most of the protein and fat in the wheat kernel,” Hans Stein, a professor in the department of animal science at the University of Illinois, said in the release.
“However, they also contain most of the fiber, which can make it harder for non-ruminant animals to digest the nutrients.”
Stein and his team carried out an experiment to determine the nutrient composition, as well as the digestibility of energy and nutrients, in red dog and wheat middlings.
The samples’ compositions were as follows:
| Red dog | Wheat middlings |
Crude protein (%) | 17 | 17.67 |
Fat (%) | 2.5 | 4.07 |
Starch (%) | 42.98 | 20.28 |
Total fiber (%) | 13.9 | 36.45 |
The digestibility of energy, dry matter, and organic matter was higher in red dog compared to wheat middlings, the researchers found. Also, red dog’s digestible energy and metabolizable energy values were both greater.
“The differences in concentration of starch and fiber are likely the main reason, but it’s also possible that the smaller particle size in red dog increased the digestibility of energy,” Stein said in the release.
The National Pork Board provided funding for the research.
The full study is published in the February issue of the Journal of Animal Science.