Effects of feeding palmitic and stearic fatty acids on growth performance, nutrient ‎digestibility and blood parameters of fattening lambs

In order to investigate the effect of partial replacement of cereal grains with different levels of calcium saltd of palmitic and stearic saturated fatty acids on the performance of fattening lambs, 30 male Dalagh-Romanov lambs were used for 89 days. Experimental treatments included: 1- control diet (without fatty acid), 2- diet with 3 % palmitic acid  (PA), 3- diet with 3% stearic acid (SA), 4- diet with 3 %(67% PA+ 33% SA), 5- diet with 3 %(67% SA+ 33% PA). Growth performance (dry matter intake, average daily gain and feed convertion ratio), nutrient digestibility and blood parameters (glucose, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and liver enzymes) were measured. The results showed that experimental treatments had no significant effect on dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio and daily weight gain of lambs (P>0.05). Addition of fatty acid supplement to experimental diets significantly reduced dry matter digestibility (P<0.05). The concentration of high-density lipoprotein in diets containing fatty acid supplementation increased significantly (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results suggest that adding 3% )on the ration dry matter basis) PA and SA as alone or combine together in the diet for fattening lambs could be done without negative effects.