Egg quality, fatty acids profile, and hatchability of broiler breeders fed diets supplemented with Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) refers to a group of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid. Hens fed a diet supplemented with CLA exhibit increased levels of saturated fatty acids, which may influence the quality characteristics of eggs and the offspring lipid metabolism. The present study, aimed to evaluate the effect of the dietary inclusion of CLA for broiler breeders on the residual yolk sac fatty acid profile, egg quality, and hatchability. Two 58-week-old Cobb500® broiler breeder commercial flocks were fed diets supplemented with 0% or 0.025% CLA (trans-10, cis-12). After 26 days, 300 eggs from each treatment group were collected, and among these eggs, 30 were subjected to egg quality assessment and egg yolk fatty acid profile analysis. The remaining 270 eggs were subjected to incubation analysis. The quality of the chicks was evaluated at hatch. The residual yolk sac content and weight at hatch were also evaluated. Unhatched eggs were subjected to residual analysis. The supplementation of the breeders’ diet with 0.025% CLA did not influence the incubation parameters and the weight of the chicks at hatch. However, the egg yolk and residual yolk sac fatty acid profile were altered and CLA accumulation was increased in the residual yolk sac at hatch in this treatment group. In conclusion, CLA supplementation in the diet of breeders did not influence the incubation parameters and the weight of the chicks, although it did alter the profiles of omega-6, palmitoleic, linoleic, and arachidonic acids in both egg yolk and residual yolk sac.

Keywords

• Embryonic development
• lipid metabolism
• breeder nutrition.