What is distillers' grains, and how good are the benefits of using them to raise geese?
Many people are unclear about what distillers' grains are; they look reddish and smell of alcohol. These days it is also popular to use distillers' grains as feed to raise some poultry, such as raising geese on distillers' grains. So let's take a detailed look below at the question of distillers' grains and the benefits of raising geese on distillers' grains.
1. What are distillers' grains?
Distillers' grains, also known as red grains, fermented grain residue, meal, and so on, are the residue left after brewing rice, wheat, sorghum, etc. Distillers' grains are a direct by-product of the brewing process. They not only contain a certain proportion of grain, which can save on the concentrated feed used to raise poultry, but are also rich in crude protein, about 2—3 times higher than the content in corn, while also containing various trace elements, vitamins, yeasts, etc. The levels of lysine, methionine and tryptophan are also very high, which is something crop straw cannot provide.
2. How good are the benefits of raising geese on distillers' grains?
The benefits of raising geese on distillers' grains depend on many factors; only by feeding scientifically and mastering the correct breeding methods can you obtain certain benefits. We need to be clear about some issues to watch for in the process of raising geese on distillers' grains.
1. Before feeding, the distillers' grains should be treated at high temperature or dried in the sun so that the alcohol fully evaporates; the feeding amount should be appropriate and should not exceed 5% of the daily ration; likewise adopt the principle of starting with a small amount and slowly increasing, beginning at 10% and slowly increasing; fresh distillers' grains easily turn sour, so an appropriate amount of lime powder or baking soda can be added to the distillers' grains and stirred evenly to neutralize the acid in the distillers' grains; when feeding distillers' grains to geese, combine them with other feeds, and never feed them alone.
2. The energy and crude protein content of distillers' grains is low, and nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin D and calcium are lacking. Therefore, a certain proportion of corn, cake meal, bran, etc. must be matched in, along with a sufficient amount of green feed and an appropriate amount of bone meal; distillers' grains must not be fed in large amounts to breeding geese, otherwise it will cause sperm deformities in breeding ganders.
3. When storing distillers' grains, note that they should be dried in the sun or dried by heat and then crushed, and stored in a dry place, taken out as needed for feeding; put the distillers' grains in a cement pit or vat and soak them in water so they settle and ferment, and change the clean water at any time according to changes in the water quality in the pit; once a wine aroma is given off from the pit, they can be fed, but moldy and spoiled distillers' grains must not be fed to geese.
3. Methods for preserving fermented distillers' grains material
If they are to be preserved for a long time, the fermented distillers' grains material must be sealed strictly and pressed down firmly and compactly, expelling as much air from the packaging bag as possible. This not only allows long-term preservation, but during preservation the degradation will continue, and after a longer time the digestion and absorption rate will be better and the nutrition better. The same principle applies to other solid-fermented distiller's residues. Of course, the precondition is being able to ensure strict sealing and that not a bit of air enters the material; then the longer the time, the better the quality and the better the nutrition (but in actual production, many users cannot guarantee strict sealing, so it is best to use it up as soon as possible). We have one user who fermented complete feed and took strict sealing measures; after one year the feed was still very intact, with excellent palatability, and the acidity had not risen much. Added at 5% to other feed for feeding together, after the animals ate it their disease resistance and digestion and absorption rate were noticeably improved. Distillers' grains contain some residual alcohol. Improper feeding can cause goose poisoning.