Influence of different dietary oil sources on performance and cholesterol content of egg yolk in laying hens

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different dietary oil supplements on performance parameters (feed consumption, egg weight and egg production) and cholesterol content of egg yolk in laying hens. A total of 180 Hysex Brown layer hens which were 36 weeks old were assigned to four treatment groups that also have three subgroups (3 hens per cage) and fed with the experimental diets for 8 weeks. During this period the hens had ad-libitum access to feed and water. The basal diet (Table 1) was formulated to contain 17% crude protein and 2750 kcal/kg metabolisable energy. Diets of experimental groups were designed so that they include different oil supplements (sunflower oil, fish oil, soybean oil and hazelnut oil) at 3% concentration. Hens accommodated in a poultry house with a light regimen of 17 h light and 7 h darkness. At the end of the study, it is found out that when different dietary oil supplementations were added to the diet feed consumption and feed efficiency were not affected (p>0.05). Similarly, no significant differences were observed in egg quality parameters and egg cholesterol values (p> 0.05). Egg production and egg weight values were found to be significantly higher (p< 0.05) in the group fed with 3% soybean oil. The results of this study clearly demonstrate that supplementation of different oil sources does not create statistically significant effects on egg quality parameters and egg cholesterol value in laying hens. Compared to other experimental groups, relatively higher positive effects on production parameters were obtained in the group of animals that were fed with soybean oil containing ration