An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of microbial phytase on production and phytate P utilization of laying hens. A total of 180 laying hens was used in the feeding Dial to determine the effects of different dietary phytase and P level...
An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of microbial phytase on production and phytate P utilization of laying hens. A total of 180 laying hens was used in the feeding Dial to determine the effects of different dietary phytase and P levels on egg production, egg weight, egg shell intensity and thickness and tibia breaking strength. Treatments were: 1) 100% of NRC requirement for total phosphorus(C), 2) 60% of NRC requirement for total phosphorus(T₁), 3) diet 2) with 100 FTU(T₂), 4) diet 2) with 500 FTU(T₃) and 5) diet 2) with 1,000 FTU(T₄). Egg productions of C, T₁ and T₂ were respectively 85.2, 87.6 and 86.9 % with no statistical differences but that of T₃was significantly(P$lt;0.05) higher(90.4%) and that of T₄ was lower(80.7%) than other treatments. Egg weight of T₄ was similar to the control group, but those of T₁ and T₂ were significantly(P$lt;0.05) lighter than the other treatments. Egg shell thickness of control was higher than those of other groups and egg shell intensities of T₁, T₂ and T₄ were significantly stronger(P $lt; 0.05) than those of other treatments. However as laying hen aged, egg shell intensity of each group has been weakened. Breaking strength of tibia of T₁ was significantly(P$lt;0.05) lower than other treatments.