Silva et al., 2010. Rev. Bras. Zoot., 39 (7): 1595-1599

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of replacing concentrate by wet brewer grain on the intake and digestibility of nutrients in goats. It was used five Boer x Saanen crossbreed goats and five Saanen goats randomly distributed in two 5 x 5 latin squares. The diets were composed of 40% of Tifton hay and the other 60% were composed of 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100% of wet brewer grain replacing the concentrate. The intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), total carbohydrates (TC), total digestible nutrients (TDN) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were fitted to the quadratic model so the highest values were observed for diets without wet brewer grain and with 25% of this residue. The levels of wet brewer grain had a decreasing linear effect on apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and total carbohydrates and a quadratic effect on crude protein digestibility. Wet brewer grain can be used in levels up to 25% as a substitute to concentrate in diets for goats at the end of lactation.