Effects of Calcium Salt of Long Chain Fatty Acid on Performance and Blood Metabolites of Atabay Lambs

摘要

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of calcium salt of long chain fatty acid s (Ca-LCFA) on performance, blood metabolites , carcass characteristics and feed intake in Atabay lambs. Twenty-eight male lambs with mean body weight of 24.5±0.51 kg and 4 to 5 months age were used in a 90 days feeding experiment. The trial was carried out using Completely Randomized Design with 4 dietary treatments containing 0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5% Ca-LCFA ( dry matter basis). At the end of the experiment, 3 lambs from each treatment were slaughtered for carcass analysis. The treatments did not result in significant (p<0.05) differences for characteristics of skin, head, neck, shoulder, chest , ribs, feet, back, hot carcass, heart, kidney, lung, liver and fat-tail weight. The Ca-LCFA level in the diet affected (p<0.05) the triglyceride and glucose concentration of blood serum, but have no effect on Ca and urea. It was concluded that Ca-LCFA of 2.5% is the best level for use in diet for lambs.