Abstract
The effects of four different dietary fat sources on the performance, carcass characteristics,
meat quality and fatty acid composition of abdominal fat of broilers were evaluated. As fat
sources, a commercial animal/vegetable fat blend (Group l), soybean oil (Group 2), rapeseed oil
(Group 3) and a processed fat product (Group 4) were used. A total of 1300 one-day-old broiler
chicks was assigned to 20 litter pens. Each dietary treatment consisted of five replicates (5 pens).
The chicks were fed corn-soy-based all mash diets which contained 3.5% of the respective fat
source for 43 days. The broilers which were fed the vegetable oils (Groups 2 and 3) performed
better than those in Groups 1 and 4. Group 4 also excreted a higher amount of fat because of the
decreased metabolizability of the saturated long-chain fatty-acids. The fatty acid composition of
the fat excreted in the droppings confirmed that the saturated long-chain fatty-acids cannot be
metabolized by young broiler chickens. The proportion of legs, breast meat and abdominal fat was
not affected by the dietary treatment. There were no significant differences between the groups in
dry matter, protein, and fat content of the thigh meat, or in organoleptic traits of the breast meat.
The composition of the abdominal fat was typically influenced by the dietary fat source: the
content of polyunsaturated fatty acids was significantly elevated in Group 2. Group 3 contained
more oleic acid than any of the other groups, and in the abdominal fat of the broilers of Group 4
significantly higher contents of myristic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, and behenic acid
were found. It was concluded that the growth performance of broilers can be improved by
incorporation of polyunsaturated fatty acids at levels higher than generally recommended without
negative effects on quantitative carcass characteristics. However, the feeding of fats with a high
percentage of saturated long-chain fatty-acids has a significant positive influence on the