the effects of l-carnitine and different levels of animal fat on performance, carcass characteristics, some blood parameters and immune response in broiler chicks

this study was conducted to investigate the effects of l-carnitine and different levels of animal fat on performance, carcass characteristics and some blood parameters of broiler chickens. two hundred one-day old male broiler chicks were allotted to5 treatments in 4 replicates and 10 birds in each replicate. dietary treatments consisted of: 1) diet with 5% vegetable oil (t1), 2) diet with 5% vegetable oil + 300 mg/kg l-carnitine (t2), 3) diet with 4% animal fat + 300 mg/kg l-carnitine (t3), 4) diet with 5% animal fat + 300 mg/kg l-carnitine (t4) and 5) diet with 6% animal fat + 300 mg/kg l-carnitine (t5). the dietary treatments had not significant effect on body weight gain in days 1-21 (p>0.05). the body weight of chicks fed t4 diet was increased in days 22-42 and whole period of the experiment (p