Published studies involving different feeding strategies and diet inclusion rates of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (cDDGS) for broilers have resulted in variable growth performance responses. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively summarize the impact of feeding diets containing cDDGS on growth performance of broilers using a total of 16 publications with 56 observations in the database. The mean difference (MD) of BWG, FI, and G/F ratio were expressed as percentage between feeding corn-soybean meal-based (CSB) diet and addition of cDDGS into CSB diet of broilers. Individual observations were analyzed using a multivariable model (Proc GLIMMIX, SAS) to evaluate growth performance responses based on feeding phase, inclusion level of cDDGS, and oil content of cDDGS as a fixed effects. Broilers fed cDDGS diet had decreased BWG (-0.1 %, P < 0.01) and increased FI (0.3 %, P < 0.01) compared with broilers fed CSB diet. Moreover, every percentage unit increase in the inclusion level of cDDGS in CSB diet was associated with a decrease in BWG (0.30 %, P < 0.01) and FI (2.64 %, P < 0.01). The MD of BWG was greater for broilers fed cDDGS in the starter (4.70 %, P < 0.01) and entire (3.00 %, P < 0.01) period compared with the finisher feeding period. However, entire feeding period showed greater MD of G/F ratio (2.11 %, P < 0.01) compared with starter and finisher periods. The MD of BWG (-1.02 %, P < 0.01) and FI (-2.48%, P < 0.01) were decreased for broilers fed more than 20 % in the diet.
In conclusion, including more than 20 % cDDGS into the broiler diet decreased BWG and FI. The recommended inclusion level of cDDGS into the broiler diet is 10 to 20 % during the entire period.