Effect of DHA supplementation on broilers' growth performance, meat quality and blood profile

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is vital in the meat composition of broilers which is helpful to maintain a healthy diet in humans. The purpose of this study is to observe the effect of DHA from fish oil on growth performance, organ weight, and meat quality along with the blood profile of broilers. A total of 1600, 1-day old, Ross 308 broilers with an average body weight of 43.15 ± 1.35 g were used in 5 weeks trail. Birds were randomly allotted into one of four dietary treatment groups named: control (CON), basal diet; treatment (TRT)1, CON + 0.05% DHA; TRT2, CON + 0.1% DHA; TRT3, CON + 0.15% DHA. Each treatment group consisted of 20 replications with 20 broilers per pen. The experiment was divided into three phases. Phase 1 (Day 1-7), Phase 2 (Day 7-21), and overall phase (Day 21-35). During Phase 1 and 2, no significant changes were observed on body weight gain (BWG) as the DHA levels increased in the diet. However, during Phase 3, broilers fed diet supplemented with DHA at increasing levels linearly increased (p < 0.05) BWG and feed intake (FI). Also, water holding capacity was reduced and drip loss percentage on Day 7 was increased linearly (p < 0.05) with the increase in DHA supplementation. At the end of trial, pH value of the meat was increased linearly (p < 0.05) with DHA levels. Moreover, blood cholesterol level, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein was significantly and linearly (p < 0.05) decreased in DHA supplemented groups. Broiler-fed diet with DHA supplement decreased the red blood cell linearly (p < 0.05) in blood. The results of the study indicate that DHA supplementation increased BWG with FI. Moreover, it has reduced blood lipid constituents with some adverse effect on meat quality.