Calcium and Phosphorus Requirements of Finishing Broilers Using Phosphorus Sources of Low and High Availability

Abstract

THE National Research Council (1960) has suggested that the dietary calcium and phosphorus levels for broilers 0–8 weeks of age be 1.0 and 0.6 percent, respectively. However, requirements as reported by various workers have been quite variable. Calcium requirements have ranged from 0.60 percent (Simco and Stephenson, 1960; Formica et al., 1961) to levels as high as 2.14 percent (Sherwood, 1932). Phosphorus requirements have been reported to range from 0.50 percent (Wilgus, 1931) to 0.87 percent (Sherwood, 1932). The experiments reported herein were conducted to study the calcium and phosphorus requirements of broiler type chicks for the period of four to eight weeks of age, and to study the effect of varying one mineral upon the requirement of the other. Two experiments involving four trials were conducted. Two of these trials were designed to determine the requirements for calcium and phosphorus using a phosphorus source considered to…