Effects of Saturated and unsaturated fats in starter and grower feeds on performance and carcass traits of broilers

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of saturated and unsaturated fats in starter and grower feeds on performance and carcass parts of broilers. In this experiment 288 day old broiler chicks (Ross308 strain) were used in a completely randomized design for 42 days with 8 treatments in 3 replicates and 12 chicks in each replicate. The experimental groups included: T1) control group, T2) 4% canola oil in starter and grower feed, T3) 4% beef tallow in starter and grower feed, T4) 4% canola oil in starter feed and 4% beef tallow in grower feed, T5) 4% beef tallow in starter feed and 4% canola oil in grower feed, 6) 4% canola oil in starter feed and 4% canola oil and beef tallow blend (2% canola oil + 2% beef tallow) in grower feed, 7) 4% beef tallow in starter feed and 4% canola oil and beef tallow blend (2% canola oil + 2% beef tallow) in grower feed, 8) 4% canola oil and beef tallow blend (2% canola oil + 2% beef tallow) in both starter and grower feeds. The results showed that using saturated and unsaturated fats in starter and grower feeds significantly affected the performance of broilers (P<0.05). The highest amount of daily weight gain (47.59g) and the best feed conversion (1.77) were resulted in group7 by using 4% of beef tallow in starter feed and 4% of canola oil and beef tallow blend (2% canola oil + 2% beef tallow) in grower feed, however there were not observed significant difference between group 4, 7 and 8 about the performance. About carcass percent, except liver percent, there were not significant difference between treatments. The addition of canola oil to starter diets significantly decreased the percent of liver, also the lowest percent of liver (1.97%) was resulted in group 2 by using 4% of canola oil in starter and grower feeds. The overall results showed that using 4% of saturated and unsaturated fat in broiler diets, especially 4% beef tallow in starter diets and blend of canola oil and beef tallow in grower feeds significantly improve the performance of broilers.