Comparison of Different Omega-3 Fatty Acid Sources for Enrichment of Egg

ABSTRACT

To compare different omega-3 fatty acid sources for enrichment of egg from economical and qualitative aspects.Compeletely Randomized Design. One hundred and eighty Single Comb White Leghorn laying hens, 24 weeks old. Ten groups of 18 hens [6 hens/cage] were randomly assigned to each of ten dietary treatments and in compeletely randomized design, were fed diets containing 2.5 ko[3]/41, 5 ko[3]/41 and 7.5 ko[3]/41 flax seed, canola seed and fish meal or a wheat- soybean control diet, for 12 weeks. At the end of this period, percentage of linolenic acid [n-3], linoleic acid [n-6], oleic acid [n-9] and some of saturated fatty acids were determined. Statistical Analysis: Analysis of variance of data were performed by SAS software and comparison of the means were done by Duncan's multiple range test. There were significant difference among groups on linolenic acid, linoleic acid percentage and ratio of linoleic acid [n-6] to linolenic acid [n-3][P<0.05]. The greatest value for linolenic acid was in the group given 7.5 ko[3]/41 flax seed. During this period, there were no significant differences [P>0.05] among treatments on egg production, egg weights, daily feed intake, feed conversion, and quality of eggs [P>0.05]. With note to increasing in linolenic acid amount of egg yolks in the group given 7.5 ko[3]/41 canola seed and because of low cost and abundance of canola seed in Iran, and not to be influenced of performance of laying hens and quality of eggs, 7.5ko[3]/41 canola seed could be recommended