Effects of emulsifier and inulin supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, immune response and blood biochemistry in broilers fed different fat sources

A 42-d study was conducted to investigate the effects of emulsifier and inulin supplementation in diets with different sources of fat on growthperformance, carcass traits, immune response, and blood biochemical indices of broilers. A total of 800 one-day-old male broilers in a 2 × 2 × 2factorial experiment with two fat sources (soybean oil and beef tallow), two emulsifier levels (0 and 0.1% lysophospholipids) and two levels of inulinsupplementation (0 and 0.1%) were used in a completely randomized design with eight treatments, five replications and 20 chicks per replicate. Birdsfed diets containing beef tallow and emulsifier had a lower feed conversion ratio and abdominal fat percentage than birds fed diets containing soybeanoil and emulsifier (P <0.05). The abdominal fat percentage and feed conversion ratio were lower in birds that received fat and inulin diets than otherbirds (P<0.05). Birds fed the emulsifier-containing diet had higher values of primary and secondary antibody titers against Newcastle disease virus,and secondary titers of total antibody and IgM against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) compared to those fed the emulsifier-unsupplemented diet(P<0.05). Daily weight gain and antibody titer against Newcastle disease and SRBC were higher in birds receiving the inulin-supplemented dietcompared to other birds (P<0.05). In conclusion, the use of 0.1 % emulsifier and inulin, either singly or in combination, in the diet of broiler chickenscan be useful for improving growth performance and immune response.