Níveis de cálcio e fósforo disponível em rações com fitase para frangos de corte nas fases pré-inicial e inicial

Abstract

Two independent experiments, one in pre-starter phase (1 to 7 days) and the other in the starter phase (8 to 21 days of age), were carried out with broilers to evaluate levels of calcium and available phosphorus (aP) in diets supplemented with 500 units of phytase activity/kg of diet. Each experiment consisted of a performance and a metabolic assay, and was conducted in a factorial schedule (3 × 4) + 1, with three aP levels (0.42, 0.37, 0.32% in the pre-starter phase and 0.39, 0.34, 0.29% in the starter phase), four calcium levels (0.94, 0.84, 0.74, 0.64% in the pre-starter phase and 0.88; 0.78, 0.68, 0.58% in the starter phase) plus a control diet. The control corresponded to the only diet without phytase and contained 0.47% of aP and 0.94% of calcium (pre-starter phase) or 0.44% of aP and 0.88% of calcium (starter phase). In the performance assays, at 7 and 21 days of age the feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion and the ash content in the tibia were evaluated. In the metabolic assays the apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) of the feed, and dry matter digestibility coefficients (DMDC) were determined. Calcium levels influenced the feed intake, AMEn and DMDC in the prestarter phase, and in the starter phase they influenced bone ash, AMEn and DMDC. The aP levels influenced the content of tibia ash, AMEn and DMDC in the pre-starter phase, and bone ash and DMDC in the starter phase. By adding 500 units of phytase activity/kg of diet, it is possible to reduce, respectively, the calcium and aP levels to 0.64% and 0.37% in the prestarter phase, and to 0.58% and 0.29% in the starter phase, since this reduction does not cause a negative effect on performance or bone mineralization of broilers in the evaluated periods.