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Two experiments on commercial broiler chickens (3-37 d) and WL layers (252-364 d) were conducted to study the relative bioavailability of phosphorus (P) from different P supplements in comparison to tricalcium phosphate (TCP), at constant dietary calcium (Ca):P ratio. The P sources tested were dicalcium phosphate (DCP), steam sterilized bone meal (SSBM), commercial mineral mixture (CMM), phosphoric acid (PA) and a combination of CMM + PA. Fluorine (F) content in CMM and SSBM was 13.12 and 0.14 g/kg, respectively. In commercial broiler diets, DCP, SSBM or PA could be used as supplemental P sources without affecting (p<0.05) weight gain, feed intake, tibia ash and, P and Ca contents in tibia ash when compared to TCP. Severity of leg abnormality and deposition of F in bone were higher (p<0.05) in group fed CMM. P retention and serum inorganic P content was significantly reduced (p<0.05) in CMM fed birds compared to those fed TCP, SSBM, PA or CMM+PA. Among other P sources (TCP, SSBM, PA and CMM+PA) the serum inorganic P levels did not vary significantly (p<0.05). The P retention also significantly reduced in CMM fed groups compared to those fed DCP or PA. The P retention significantly increased from 0.183 to 0.216 units by supplementation of PA to CMM diet. In layers, egg production was not affected by replacing TCP with DCP, SSBM, PA or CMM+PA, but significantly (p<0.05) reduced with CMM. Feed (kg)/kg egg mass, egg weight, shell quality (shell weight and shell thickness) and serum Ca levels were not influenced by dietary variation in P source. The poor performance of both broilers and layers fed on CMM based diets could be attributed to the presence of higher levels of F (647.8 and 630.1 mg/kg, respectively) and low P utilization. Based on growth, bone mineralization and P retention it is concluded that DCP, SSBM or PA can be used as alternatives to TCP in broiler diets. In WL layer diets, in addition to above P sources, CMM can also be used as supplemental P source by replacing one half of P from CMM with PA without affecting egg production and shell quality. |
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