METABOLISM AND NUTRITION Incorporation of Different Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids into Eggs

ABSTRACT An experiment was carried out to examine thoroughly the relationships among different n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the diet, their deposition into the eggs ’ fat, and their effect on hens ’ laying performance. A diet enriched with 4 % fish oil (FO) was fed to the birds throughout the 14-wk laying period (Treat-ment 1; T1); this was the same oil source that was replaced in proportions of 25, 50, 75, or 100 % with four different fat sources, resulting in 17 isocaloric dietary treatments: linseed oil (LO; T2 to T5), rapeseed oil (RO; T6 to T9), sunflower oil (SO; T10 to T13), and tallow (T; T14 to T17). Performance parameters were recorded weekly and ana-lyzed on the basis of the replacing fat source. At the end of the 14-wk experimental period, eggs were collected, and their fatty acid (FA) profile was determined. (Key words: egg, n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids