Effect of different fat sources on growth performance and abdominal fat content of broilers under hot environment

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different fat sources on the abdominal fat reduction of broilers under conditions of increased temperature. Twenty female Ross-308 broiler chickens at 21 days old were allocated to four dietary treatments with five chickens per treatment and offered experimental diet and water ad libitum. Five percent of yellow grease, fish oil, palm oil, or wasted cooking oil was added to a corn-soybean diet as a fat source. The temperature in the chicken house was above 26°C during the experimental period. The peroxide value of the experimental diets was determined on the final day of the experiment, and the values ranged from 0.75 to 1.5 meq/kg, except for fish oil treatment diet with 3.3 meq/kg. There was no significant difference in growth performance among the four dietary treatments. The abdominal fat of chickens in the fish oil group was lower than that of chickens in the yellow grease and waste cooking oil groups (P<0.05). This study indicates that source of fat has the potential to decrease the abdominal fat of broilers reared under an increased temperature environment, and fish oil contained most of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.