The effects of medium chain fatty acids in mash and pelleted diets on growth performance of broilers

The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) in mash and crumbled broiler diets. A total of 400 male chicks (Cobb 500; initial BW 41.8 g) were housed in 4 Petersime batteries and used in an 18-d study. Treatments were randomly assigned to 80 cages within location block resulting in 8 cages per treatment with 5 chicks per cage at placement. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 5 factorial with main effects of feed type (mash and crumble) and 0.5% Medium Chain Fatty Acid inclusion (Control no inclusion; Hexanoic Acid (C6); Octanoic Acid (C8); Decanoic Acid (C10); Dodeanoic Acid (C12)). Fat inclusion in the diets were equalized using 0.5% soybean oil in the control diet. Feed was pelleted using a CPM (model CL5) pellet mill equipped with a 3.97×2.22 mm die. Feed was pelleted at a conditioning temperature and retention time of 85°C and 20 sec, respectively. Dietary treatments were fed for the full duration of the study. Data was analyzed as a randomized complete block design using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS. Results were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05 and marginally significant between P > 0.05 and P ≤ 0.10. For d 0 to 12 and d 0 to 18, there were no feed form × MCFA interactions. From d 0 to 12, broilers fed crumbles had improved (P < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, FCR, and d 12 BW compared to those fed mash diets. Chicks fed C6 had increased (P < 0.05) FCR compared to those fed the control and diets containing C8 or C10. From d 0 to 18, chicks fed pelleted diets had improved (P < 0.001) ADG, ADFI, FCR, and final BW compared to those fed mash diets. For the overall treatment period there was no MCFA effect (P > 0.10) on broiler performance. Pelleting and crumbling feed improved growth performance regardless of MCFA inclusion. MCFA inclusion did not positively influence growth performance.