Coarse limestone does not alleviate the negative effect of a low Ca/P ratio diet on characteristics of tibia strength and growth performance in broilers.

ABSTRACT: The hypothesis was tested that an increased digestion of coarse compared with fine limestone can alleviate the negative effects of a low dietary Ca/P ratio on the growth performance and characteristics of tibia strength (CTS) in broilers. A total of 1,152 Ross 308 broiler chickens received a standard commercial starter feed from day 0 to 13. From day 14 onward, birds received 1 of 12 diets containing 1 of 6 Ca/P ratios (0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75) and 1 of 2 limestone particle sizes (<500 [fine] and 500 to 2,000 [coarse] μm) in a study with a 6 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Total P content was fixed at 5.5 g/kg for all treatment diets. Each treatment was replicated 6 times with 16 birds per replicate pen. On day 20 and 21, twelve birds per pen were randomly selected

SUBMITTER: Hu YX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7598140 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature