Comparative evaluation of commercially available supplementary sources of inorganic phosphorus in broiler feed

The study was designed to compare the growth performance, digestibility and concentration of phosphorous (P) and calcium (Ca) in blood plasma, tibia bone and excreta in juvenile birds fed different commercially available sources of inorganic P. Day-old Hubbard broiler chickens (180) were randomly assigned to one of 4 dietary treatments (A-D), replicated three times with 15 birds per cage. All diets were corn soyabean based and the only difference was the source of inorganic P. The diets were supplemented with 1.20% MCP imported, 1.65% DCP local, 1.65% DCP imported and 1.65% bone ash and were designated as treatment A, B, C and D respectively. The diets were fed for the period of 21 days. On day 21, 3 birds per cage were randomly selected and euthanized. Blood plasma, tibia bone and total excreta were collected to calculate total Ca and P concentration. Feed intake and total excreta collected over the last 3 days (day 19 to 21) were used to calculate dry matter digestibilities (DMD). The results showed that growth performance of broilers up to 21 days of age was not affected (P>0.05) by the different sources of inorganic P, provided that the level of available P in diet remains 0.4%. However, diets containing DCP local outperformed compared to all P sources in terms of digestibility. The concentration of total Ca and P values showed no differences (P>0.05) in bone and excreta samples but the values were higher (P<0.05) in blood plasma from birds fed diets containing MCP and DCP diets compared to those on bone ash. The study suggests that indigenous source of DCP used in this study could replace the imported source and thus have potential to improve P digestibility.