Table 1.
Polyunsaturated fatty acid composition of hatching eggs from breeder hens fed diet containing different lipid sources
| Fatty acids, % | Fish | Flax | Palm | Sunflower | Corn | Safflower | Yellow grease |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n-6 fatty acid | |||||||
| Linoleic (18:2 n-6) | 7.8 | 10.4 | 8.7 | 19.7 | 9.3 | 21.5 | 17.4 |
| Arachidonic (20:4 n-6) | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 3.1 |
| Docosatetraenoic (22:4 n-6) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Docosapentaenoic (22:5 n-6) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Total n-6 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 10.5 | 22.1 | 11.0 | 24.7 | 20.9 |
| n-3 fatty acid | |||||||
| Linolenic (18:3 n-3) | 0.3 | 7.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Eicosapentaenoic (20:5 n-3) | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Docosapentaenoic (22:5 n-3) | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Docosahexaenoic (22:6 n-3) | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Total n-6 | 6.1 | 10.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
These oils or fat sources were added at 3–3.5 % in the breeder hen diets
The hens were fed an isocaloric (2,800 kcal/kg) and isonitrogenous (16.5 % CP) corn-soy-based diet and vitamins and minerals were supplied to exceed NRC requirements for breeder hens. The average weight of egg yolk in these trials were 16.5 - 18.0 g and the total fat of the yolk was 5.4- 5.6 g/egg