Growth performance and quality characteristics of flaxseed-fed broiler chicks

A 42-day study was conducted to evaluate the effect of ground full-fat flaxseed supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, α-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA) and organoleptic characteristics of broiler meat. A total of 200 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five experimental groups and were fed isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets containing flaxseed at 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10%. Flaxseed supplementation did not affect the weekly body weight of broiler chicks during the first three weeks, but thereafter it reduced significantly with increasing levels of flaxseed in the diets. Birds fed on 10% flaxseed showed a reduction of 10.08% in body weight as compared to the control group. Diets containing 5.0–7.5% flaxseed resulted in significantly lower weight gain, higher feed conversion ratio, energy efficiency ratio and lower protein efficiency ratio as compared to control and 2.5% flaxseed diets. The carcass characteristics data indicated a little variation in...