The effect of lipid saturation on nutrient digestibility of layer diets.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary lipid saturation on nutrient digestibility of layer diets. Five isoenergetic (12.6 MJ AME/kg DM) and isonitrogenous (170 g CP/kg DM) diets were formulated using different lipid sources at a constant 30 g/kg inclusion level. The control n-3 diet was formulated using a blend (50 : 50) of linseed- and fish oil, while fish oil (polyunsaturated n-3), sunflower oil (polyunsaturated n-6), high oleic acid (HO) sunflower oil (monounsaturated n-9) and tallow (saturated fatty acid) were used as other supplementary lipid sources. The five dietary treatments were randomly allocated to the two hundred (200) individually caged Hy-Line Silver-Brown laying hens (20 weeks of age) (n = 40/treatment). Experimental diets were provided to the birds on an ad libitum basis for a 22 week period (from 20 to 42 weeks of age). At 42 weeks of age, six hens per treatment (n = 6 replicates/treatment), were randomly selected to partake in a digestibility study over a 7 day period using the total collection technique. The polyunsaturated n-6 treatment resulted in the lowest crude protein digestibility, whereas the saturated fatty acid treatment resulted in the lowest fat digestibility. Furthermore, the polyunsaturated n-3 diet resulted in the highest dietary AME (13.29 MJ/kg DM) and AMEn (12.74 MJ/kg DM) content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]