Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Trichur – 680 651, India
*Corresponding author's e-mail: drharivet78@gmail.com. Address: Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tirupur-648 604, T.N. India
Online published on 12 August, 2015.
One hundred and ninety two, day-old broiler chicks (Vencobb) were divided into four identical groups, four replicates with 12 birds in each replicate in each group. The birds were fed either standard broiler ration, with 0.5% available P (T1), with 0.3% available P (LP) and 3.0% citric acid (T2), LP supplemented with 700 U of Phytase/kg (T3) and LP with 1.5% citric acid and 350U of phytase/kg (T4). All the rations were formulated as per BIS specifications except the level of available P. Effect on tibial characteristics, serum and tibial mineral contents were evaluated. Tibia length and weight was significantly high (P<0.05) in T4 followed by T2, T3 and T1 at sixth week. Per cent tibia at ash at sixth and eighth week was also higher (P>0.05) in T2, T3 and T4 compared to T1. No significant difference could be noticed in tibial and serum Ca, P, Mg, Zn and Mn except for a significantly higher (P<0.05) tibial Mg in T1 and serum Zn in T3 at sixth week. From this study, it could be concluded that the available P level in the feed could be reduced by 40 per cent by inclusion of dietary citric acid or phytase alone or the combination of both, with better utilization of minerals in broiler chicken.
Broilers, Citric acid, Phytase, Tibial, Serum mineral contents
