Nutritional strategies with dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS): effects on saanen goat milk and lactation dynamics

ABSTRACT This study evaluated Saanen goats' milk yield and quality on diets where dried distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS) partially or fully replaced soybean meal (SBM). Fifteen goats were randomly assigned to three treatments-SBM, SBM+DDGS, and DDGS diets-using a 60:40 forage-to-concentrate ratio, with five replicates each. The experiment covered four phases (1-30, 31-60, 61-90, and 91-120 days in milk). Wood's nonlinear Bayesian model estimated the lactation curve, and Tukey's test assessed milk quality. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were found in body weight, dry matter intake, daily milk yield, or milk quality. However, initial milk yield, peak production rate, and decline rate differed significantly (p < 0.05) among diets. The SBM+DDGS diet proved viable from kidding to 120 days, enhancing milk production and optimizing diet efficiency.