Authors : A. Musavi, S.A. Mirghelenj and M. Rezaei
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to study the effects of microbial phytase, metabolizable energy and available phosphorus on performance and carcass characteristics and mineral content of tibia bone in broiler chickens. Five hundred and forty days old ross male broiler chicks allocated to 9 treatments in a 2x2x2 factorial arrangement with two levels of phytase enzyme (0 and 500 FTU), two levels of metabolizable energy (recommended and 106 kcal kg-1 less than recommended) and available phosphorus (50 and 75% of recommended level) and a control group (with recommended phosphorus and no enzyme supplementation), with 4 replicates of 15 chicks in a completely randomized experimental design. The use of phytase enzyme had significant effect on feed intake, body weight gain (whole period), breast and thigh percentage of body weight (p<0.05). There were significant differences among energy effects on feed intake, body weight gain and FCR (p<0.05). The effect of diet containing 75 and 50% of recommended available phosphorus on feed intake, body weight gain, FCR, breast and thigh percentage and Ca and P content of tibia bone were significantly different (p<0.05). The Interaction of energy and phosphorus effect on feed intake, body weight gain, FCR and P content of tibia bone were significant (p<0.05). Results of this experiment revealed that the use of phytase enzyme in diets containing 75% of recommended available phosphorus had the best performance without considering energy.
A. Musavi, S.A. Mirghelenj and M. Rezaei, 2009. Effects of Microbial Phytase on Performance and Bone Strenght in Broiler Chickens. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 8: 1466-1471.