Calcium and non-phytate phosphorus requirement of Vanaraja breeder chicks during their juvenile stage Panda A.K.*, Rao S.V. Rama, Raju M.V.L.N., Niranjan M., Sharma R.P. Project Directorate on Poultry, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, (AP). *Corresponding author: E-mail: akpanda59@rediffmail.com
Abstract An experiment was conducted to study the effect of dietary concentrations of calcium (Ca) and non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) on performance of Vanaraja breeder (female parent line) chicks during juvenile stage. Four hundred thirty two, day-old chicks (Vanaraja female line) were distributed randomly into 9 treatment groups with 8 replicates of 6 chicks each and reared on raised wire floor battery brooders. A basal diet was formulated to contain 2600 kcal/kg ME, 20% CP, 1.0% lysine and 0.4% methionine. Subsequently nine test diets were formulated to contain 3 different concentrations of Ca (0.8, 0.9 and 1.0%) and NPP (0.4, 0.45, and 0.5%) each in factorial manner. Each experimental diet was fed ad libitum to eight replicates of six chicks each during 0–6 weeks of age. The main factors Ca and NPP and the interaction between them did not influence the body weight, tibia length, tibia weight, tibia breaking strength and ash content in it, leg abnormality score and concentrations of protein, P and antibody titre in serum. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was influenced by the levels of Ca in the diet. Comparatively better FCR was noticed in the diet contained 0.8% Ca. Serum Ca concentration was influenced by both Ca and NPP levels in diet and also between their interactions. Highest concentration of Ca was noticed in the serum when dietary content of Ca and NPP was 1.0 and 0.50%, respectively. Ca and P content in bone ash were influenced by the main factor Ca. The P content of bone ash in the diet containing 1.0 and 0.9% Ca was significantly higher than 0.8% Ca. Though Ca content of ash differed significantly by the levels of Ca no definite trend could be observed. It was concluded that Vanaraja breeder (female parent line) chicks require 0.8% Ca and 0.4% NPP in diet for realizing optimum performance during 0 to 6 weeks of age. Top Key words Calcium, non-phytate phosphorus, performance, Vanaraja breeder, juvenile stage. Top |