title: Influence of dietary fat source on growth performance responses and carcass traits of broiler chicks.
abstract: This study was conducted to determine the effects of three different fat sources and their combination on growth performance, carcass traits and intestinal measurements of broiler chickens reared to 42 d of age. Two hundred day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to one of five treatments with four replicates of 10 chicks based on a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments consisted of 4% added fat from three different sources and their combination as follows: T, diet containing 4% tallow; CO, diet containing 4% canola oil; SFO, diet containing 4% sunflower oil; TCO, diet containing 2% tallow+2% canola oil; TSFO, diet containing 2% tallow+2% sunflower oil. Dietary fat type affected significantly BW and gain as well as feed efficiency in birds fed the TCO diets compared with those fed the other diets. Dietary fat type also modified meat yield, resulting in a higher breast and drumstick yields in the birds fed TCO and TSFO diets, respectively. Most of internal organ relative weights and small intestine measurements were not influenced by dietary treatments, except for the abdominal fat pad weight that was lower in birds fed SFO and for small intestinal length that was influenced by fat source. Results from the current study suggested that the supplementation with a combination of vegetable and animal fat sources in broiler diet supported positively growth performance and carcass parameters.
authors: Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.
authors: Mohammadreza
authors: M
authors: Poorghasemi
authors: Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.
authors: Alireza
authors: A
authors: Seidavi
authors: Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.
authors: Ali Ahmad Alaw
authors: AA
authors: Qotbi
authors: Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.
authors: Vito
authors: V
authors: Laudadio
authors: Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.
authors: Vincenzo
authors: V
authors: Tufarelli
keywords: Broiler; Carcass Traits; Fats; Performance