Effects of Oil Source on Egg Quality and Yolk Fatty Acid Profile of Layer Hens

Abstract

ABSTRACT The effects of different supplemental oils on the performance, egg quality, and fatty acid (FA) profiles of eggs produced by 52 week-old Hy-Line laying hens were investigated. A total of two hundred ninety-two laying hens were assigned to three treatments with four replicates each, according to the source of oil supplemented to their diets: corn oil (CO), restaurant spent oil (RO), and a control diet (with soybean oil, SO) using a traditionally used oil in hens’ diets in local conditions. Egg production was not affected by the type of oil fed and did not change during the course of the study. Eggs mean weight were not affected by type of supplemented oil. A similar trend was observed for shell thickness, yolk heights, Haugh units, and albumen heights. The results demonstrated that both fatty acid C8:0 and C12:0, present in RO and SO respectively, do not appear in the egg yolk in any treatment. Incorporated RO significantly reduced (p<0.05) the percentage of unsaturated fatty acid in egg yolk as compared to the SO or CO. Conversely, replacing SO with high quality oil like CO in the feed of laying hens significantly enhanced (p<0.05) egg quality.

Keywords

• Laying hens
• Soybean oil
• Restaurant oil
• Corn oil
• Yolk fatty acid profile