The Utilization of Corn Oil, Lard and Tallow by Chickens of Various Ages

Abstract

QUANTITATIVE data on the utilization of fats and fatty acids by poultry are quite limited. Whitson et al. (1943) described an index method for determination of digestibility using barium sulfate, and showed that soybean oil is highly digested and absorbed by growing chickens. Duckworth et al. (1950) found that linseed oil is well utilized by chicks, but mutton tallow is much less well absorbed. Their data indicated that the absorbability of mutton fat increased with age. Carver et al. (1955) found that beef tallow was well utilized when added at a level of 3% to a practical broiler ration. Hydrogenated tallow and the fatty acids of hydrogenated tallow were less well absorbed, while oleic acid showed high absorbability. Sunde (1956) obtained evidence that the hard fats, tallow and hydrogenated tallow, when fed at a level of 5% in a practical chick ration were less well utilized than softer inedible fats …