Fat Feeding in Poultry Feeding

Animal Nutrition, Blog, Poultry Production

Fats

Fats are important ingredients in poultry diets and although used primarily to supply energy, fats also improve the physical consistency of diet and dispersion of micro ingredients in feed mixtures. Quality characteristics of fat that may affect their nutritional value or safety of use are important. Characteristics of fats used to assess the nutritional values include moisture, impurities, unsponifiable free fatty acids, total fatty acids and fatty acid composition. Fats for poultry feeds should be stabilized against oxidation.

Fatty acid composition of the fat, free fatty acid content of the fat, level of fat inclusion in the diet and the age of poultry may influence the metabolizable energy contribution of the fat.

ME OF SELECTED FATS AND OILS (DATA ON AS FED BASIS)

ME cal/kg

Animal/poultry fat 7800-8700

Corn oil 8800

Cotton seed oil 8800

Soybean oil 8800

Fats often increase the utilization of dietary energy by poultry in excess of the increase expected when the ME of the fat is added to the ME values of the other dietary constituents. Supplemental fats may increase energy utilization in adult chickens in association with a decreased rate of feed passage through the GIT. Furthermore, because the heat increment of feeding of fats is less per unit weight than that of carbohydrates, the substitution of fat for portion of the dietary carbohydrates may enhance energy utilization by reducing the heat increment of feeding.

The fatty acid composition of body fat and egg fat may be altered by dietary fats. This is especially true when substantial level of unsaturated fat such as, corn oil or sunflower oil are used. In these instances the fatty acid composition of body fat and/or egg fat tends to reflect that of the dietary unsaturated fat. Feeding saturated fats following the feeding of unsaturated fat will cause the body or egg fat to become more saturated.

Animal Nutrition