This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different fat source feeding on growth performance, visceral organ weight, meat color, excreta microflora and blood profiles in broilers. A total of 768 1-d-old ROSS 308 broilers (mixed gende...
This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different fat source feeding on growth performance, visceral organ weight, meat color, excreta microflora and blood profiles in broilers. A total of 768 1-d-old ROSS 308 broilers (mixed gender) with an initial average body weight of 39.68 ± 0.14 g were randomly allotted to 4 treatments with 12 replicate pens per treatment and 16 broilers per pen for 32 days. Dietary treatments were: 1) SBO, basal diet + 5% soybean oil, 2) PF, basal diet + 5% poultry fat, 3) TAL, basal diet + 5% tallow, and 4) LARD, basal diet + 5% lard. During d 1 to 14, broilers fed TAL diet had a higher (P<0.05) body weight gain (BWG) than broilers fed with PF and LARD diets, moreover, broilers fed TAL diet had a higher (P<0.05) feed intake than broilers fed SBO, PF and LARD diets. Overall (d 0-32), BWG in SBO and TAL treatments was greater (P<0.05) than that in LARD treatment. The meat color a<sup>*</sup> (redness) of broilers fed with LARD diet was increased (P<0.05) compared with broilers fed with PF and TAL diets. No difference was observed in visceral organ weight of liver, spleen, bursa of Fabricius, breast muscle, abdominal fat, gizzard and excreta concentrations of Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli. The blood LDL cholesterol concentration in TAL treatment was higher (P<0.05) than that in LARD treatment. In conclusion, broilers supplementation with tallow could improve not only the body weight gain and feed intake but also blood LDL cholesterol concentration. Moreover, broiler fed lard could increase a<sup>*</sup> (radness) of meat color, while the soybean oil supplementation improve body weight gain in broilers.