Phosphorus utilization in broilers fed with diets supplemented with different feed ingredients

Abstract

A reliable determination of endogenous phosphorus (P) excretion is required to measure P utilization in chickens accurately. The objective of this study was to investigate phosphorus (P) retention in broilers fed diets formulated with different feed ingredients. Sixty-four 15-d old broiler chicks were fed diets in which part of the dietary P was provided from dicalcium phosphate, maize, barley or soybean. Level of supplementation of each ingredient was calculated to provide two levels of total P (4.5 or 5.0 g kg-1 feed). Birds received a single injection of 3 MBq of 32 P to determine endogenous P excretion using the isotope dilution technique. Four days after injection, blood and excreta were collected for analysis of inorganic and radioactive P. There were no differences among diets in total (p = 0.37) or endogenous (p = 0.65) P excretion or in P retention (p = 0.37) regardless of the supplemental feed material used in each diet. Daily P retention was increased (p = 0.004) as P intake increased, but the proportion of P ingested that was retained was not affected (p = 0.23) by the level of dietary P. The use of an isotopic tracer allows for accurate estimation of endogenous P in excreta, ranging from 0.24 to 0.42 mg P g-1 dry matter intake. The retention of P in growing chickens was not changed when 10-20 % of total P was provided by maize, barley or soybean.

Standardized ileal phosphorus digestibility of meat and bone meal and poultry byproduct meal for broilers

“…The factors that can cause these variations in determining endogenous losses are unknown. Using the isotope dilution technique, Dias et al (2019) determined the endogenous losses in excreta to be between 240 and 420 mg kg -1 DMI.…”