Poultry and Non-ruminants

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The effect of varying calcium and phosphorus levels on the performance of starting broiler chicks in the tropics
(1982) Okorie, A. U.; Anungwa, F.O.I.; Njoku, E. O.
An experiment .involving seven hundred and twenty day old broiler chicks was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of calcium to phosphorus ratio on the performance of broiler birds in the tropics. The experiment employed a completely randomized design of six different calcium to phosphorus dietary treatments. Each 'treatment was replicated four times with thirty birds per replicate. The levels of calcium and phosphorus ranged from 0.4 to 1.6 percent and 1.25-0.6 percent respectively, resulting ~n calcium (Ca): phosphorus (P) ratios of 1: 2.5, 1: 2.1, 1: 1, 1.5: 1, 1.8: 1 and 2.7: in the six treatments. While feed consumption was significantly poorer at the three lowest levels of phosphorus concentration, live weight gain though non-significant among treatments, was least at the lowest calcium level. Based on feed conversion ratios and percent mortality the diets containing 1.3, 1.4 and 1.6 percent calcium with a correspond.ing 0.85, 0.80 and 0.6 percent phosphorus respectively resulted in the best overall performance.