Effect of tallow and crude soybean oil with or without l-carnitine on performance of broiler chicken

The present experiment was conducted to study the effect tallow (3.28%) and crude soybean oil (2.87%) with or without L- carnitine (100mg/Kg) supplementation on the performance of male broiler chicks. A total of 160 day old male broiler chicks were divided into 4 treatments with eight replicates of five birds each. Before the feed formulation, the lipid profile of the tallow (TAL) and crude soybean oil (CSBO) were analyzed by Agilent technologies 6890N Gas chromatography. The UFA: SFA ratios were found to be 5.37 and 0.77 for CSBO and TAL, respectively. Body weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) higher for birds fed CSBO than TAL during starter and overall period. During finisher phase body weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) higher for L-carnitine supplemented groups. Feeding of broilers with CSBO with L-carnitine carnitine caused an increase in the body weight gain and that of with TAL and L-carnitine caused a decrease in the body weight gain. The fat source did not have significant (P>0.05) effect on feed intake during the overall period. Whereas, supplementation of L-carnitine significantly (P<0.05) lowered feed intake during the overall period. Interaction effect was significant during the finisher and the overall period. FCR was significantly (P<0.05) better for CSBO during the starter and the overall periods. Inclusion of carnitine significantly (P<0.05) improved FCR during all the phases.