Rice Distillers Dried Grains with Soluble (RDDGS) is a byproduct generated during the production of ethanol. The present study was aimed to assess the impact of incorporating Rice Distillers Dried Grains with Soluble (RDDGS) by substituting soybean meal in the concentrate mixture on the growth, digestibility, and cost economics of Nagavali ram lambs. Twenty-four lambs were randomly assigned into four treatment groups. In the treatment groups, soybean meal was replaced with RDDGS at 0% (T1), 50% (T2), 75% (T3), and 100% (T4) levels. Our results inferred that replacing of soyabean meal with different concentrations of RDDGS did not significantly (P>0.05) affect dry matter Intake (DMI and feed conversion ratio. Further, gross digestibility of different nutrients and cell wall constituents were also unaffected. The cost of feed per kg of weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) reduced. The cost of feed/kg gain was significant (P<0.05) because of the replacement of soybean meal with RDDGS. T2, T3, and T4, showing decreases of ` 11.23, ` 17.59, and, respectively, in comparison to the control (T1). We conclude that, complete replacement of soyabean meal with DDGS is possible in sheep without compromising the nutrient efficiency and reduces the cost of production per kg body weight by 12.7% leading to reduced cost of production.

Highlights

• Complete replacement of soyabean meal with DDGS is possible in sheep.
• This replacement can reduce the cost of production per kg body weight by 12.7%.