Influence of oils on the Taihe Silky Fowl production performances and fatty acids composition of the meat*

Focus on the enrichment of eggs and poultry meat with polyunsaturated fatty acids has increased given their important roles in the human health. The inclusion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially n-3 fatty acids, n-3 FA) is achieved by different biological methods. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of inclusion of different oils into the feed on the production performances and fatty acids composition of the meat in Taihe Silky Fowl. A total of 80 fowls were selected at 8 weeks and randomly divided into four groups and fed with basal diet, basal diet + 4% fish oil, basal diet + 4% soybean oil and basal diet + 4% palm oil within 3 weeks respectively. The results showed that: the fowls fed with the diet inclusion of 4% fish oil had higher total gain, average daily gain, the second and the third week average daily gain than those in control group (p< 0.05). Also, inclusion of fish oil could improve the content of C22:5 n-3 and C22:6 n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the meat significantly compared with the other three groups (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, C18:3 n-3 and C18:4 n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids were also higher than in the other three groups (p< 0.05 and 0.01). Oils Supplementation could enhance C14:0 and C16:0 (p< 0.05) level, but they did not affect the total saturated fatty acids in the meat. Compared with the control group, fish oil inclusion could lower the C18:2 n-6 level, higher the C18:3 n-6, C22:4 n-6 and C22:5 n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the meat (p < 0.05). Moreover, diets supplied with 4% fish oil reduced the total n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids level and enhanced the total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids level in the meat, which resulted in that the ratio of n-3/n-6 was improved, and could meet the need of human body.