The effect of dietary lipid saturation and antioxidant type on the performance of finishing lambs

Abstract

The effect on production performance of a synthetic or natural antioxidant and lipid saturation in the finishing diets of lambs was investigated. The four dietary treatments consisted of the same basal diet (187 g CP, 355 g NDF, and 71 g EE per kg DM), differing only in regard to the supplemental lipid source (30 g/kg of either saturated beef tallow or unsaturated soybean oil) and type of antioxidant (125 g/ton of either a synthetic or natural antioxidant) included, in a 2 x 2 factorial design experiment. Eighty-four S.A. Mutton Merino lambs (27.64 ± 1.72 kg) were randomly allocated to the four dietary treatments (n = 21 lambs per treatment) and subdivided into 7 replicates per treatment (n = 3 lambs per replicate). After a dietary adaptation period of 8 days, all lambs received the respective experimental diets for the remaining period (41 days). The average daily DM feed intake, weight gain and feed efficiency was calculated accordingly. No significant differences in DMI, ADG and the efficiency with which ingested feed were utilized (FCR), were recorded for the treatments. However, the addition of unsaturated soybean oil to the diet significantly increased the efficiency with which the ME of the diet was utilized. In contrast with the natural antioxidant, the inclusion of unsaturated soybean oil in the diet containing a synthetic antioxidant, resulted in a significant lower MEI by the lambs – indicating that a lipid x antioxidant interaction occurred. Results of the present study seem to indicate that dietary lipid saturation in the finishing diets of lambs had no influence on their growth performance. However, a more efficient utilisation of ME in the finishing diet containing unsaturated soybean oil, compared to the saturated beef tallow, did occur.

Keywords: Fatty acid, flavonoid, metabolizable energy, oil, production, sheep, soybean, tallow