Use of Brewers Dried Grains as an Unconventional Feed Ingredient in the Diets of Broiler Chickens: A Review

Dried Brewers grains (DBG), a brewery by-product that, may offer a suitable cheap replacer for traditional feedstuffs (e.g., corn and soybean meal). A variety of essential nutrients are present in BDG which are required in feed formulation for poultry. It is composed of around 20% crude proteins, 6% ether extract, 15% crude fiber and 4% ash. Besides, it is fairly rich in essential amino acids; 0.9% lysine, 0.4% methionine, 0.4% tryptophan, 1.2% phenylalanine, 1.1% threonine as well as 1.6% valine. As a result, the concentrations of protein and amino acids are greater in BDG than in maize. However, the use of BDG in poultry feeds has some constraints such as high moisture and fiber contents. The high moisture content of wet brewers’ grains (about 80%) increases its bulkiness. So, efficient sun-drying is recommended to avoid nutrient losses of the by-product. Due to presence of high fiber content in BDG, it is mainly used as a cattle feed. But, there are also many studies, which explored the use of BDG in poultry diets. The present review article highlights the nutritional value of BDG as an untraditional feedstuff in broiler diets and its impacts on growth performance.