Olive oil and CLA enriched olive oil were compared with each other in a growth trial with broiler chickens,
as energy supplements to the diet. A commercial CLA blend was used at the level of 1 kg per 100 kg
mixed integrated feed.
Two hundred and forty commercial hybrid broilers (Ross 308) were randomly subdivided and allotted to
8 pens of 30 birds each. Four pens of birds were fed the olive oil diet and considered the control group;
the other 4 pens were fed the olive oil supplemented with CLA and considered the treated group. The
experiment lasted 47 days.
The live performance of the treated birds resulted different from the performance of the control ones: the
final body weight was slightly lighter (2.544 kg vs 2.639 kg; P≤0.05) with a lower feed intake (4.886 kg feed
vs 4.998 kg, P≤0.05) and, of course, an almost perfectly overlapping feed/gain ratio (1.90 vs 1.91).
The fatty acid composition of the breast fat of the CLA treated birds resulted enriched by the two major
CLA isomers, trans 10 cis 12 and cis 9 trans 11, whereas oleic acid and the linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic
polyunsaturated acids showed a decrease (P≤0.05).
CLA appears a recommendable ingredient in the diets of broilers as it improves the beneficial characteristics
of poultry meat
