Plant-Based Diets Containing Ca-Salts of Fatty Acids and Their Influence on Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Health Status of Broiler Chickens

The main goal of the study was to test two plant-based diets designed according to our own procedure and to compare their production efficiency. Furthermore, the effect of both diets on the carcass parameters and chickens ’ state of health was evaluated in order to explore the possibility of replacing vegetable oils by Ca-salts of fatty acids. The experiment was carried out with 140 chickens divided into 2 groups each consisting of 70 chickens (35 males and 35 females). As the source of energy specially treated oils- Ca-salts of fatty acids- were used in diet of experimental group while the soy oil was used in control group. The experiment was terminated on the 42nd day of the fattening. The mean live weight of female and male chickens in the experimental group on the 42nd day was 2.11 kg and 2.20 kg, respectively; the weight of control females and males was 2.18 kg and 2.50 kg, respectively. Significantly lower live weight of males (p ≤ 0.01) was also reflected in the carcass yield 1448.70 g (p ≤ 0.05), in the weight of skinned thighs 444.01 g (p ≤ 0.01) and thighs without skin 395,68 g (p ≤ 0.01), and in the weight of upper thighs 204.54 (p ≤ 0.01) and lower thighs 191.14 g (p ≤ 0.05). No significant differences were found in the weight of breast muscles and abdominal fat. Despite the above differences in weights, no conclusive differences between the experimental and control groups of chickens wer