THE VALUE OF USING DIFFERENT SOURCES AND LEVELS OF FAT IN BROILER DIETS

Document Type : Research article

Author

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of inclusion of animal and vegetable fat sources in the broiler diets on their performance. Two sources of fat; vegetable oil (Sunflower oil, SFO) and animal fat (Beef tallow, BT) were tried in two levels (2%, 4%) in four groups of chicks, besides a mixture of both fats (2% for each) was tried in additional group. The diets were
isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Both fat levels (2% &4%) improved growth and feed conversion compared with the control diet but the 4% level was superior in its effect.Birds which had been fed diets containing a mixture from plant and animal fats were significantly higher at 21 & 42 days than those fed either SFO or BT alone. At the same time ,all the three groups recorded heavier weights compared to those fed on the diet supplemented with 2% fat or fed basal diet alone. The same trend was detected for liver weight and abdominal fat percent however the group fed on diet supplemented with 4% SFO recorded the highest value of cholesterol. Total lipids were significantly affected by fat supplementation and the animal fat was the highest in its effect.

Keywords