Effects of Dietary Thermostable Phytase Supplementation on Growth Performance and Ca and P Metabolism of Broilers.

A study was conducted to study the effects of thermostable phytase supplementation on the growth performance and Ca and P metabolism of broilers for 21 d. 1-day-old Arbor Acres chicks with similar initial body weight were randomly divided into 3 treatments consisting 8 pens of 10 chicks per pen. The control group was given maize-soybean meal basal diet, and the other two groups were fed the basal diet including either 500 U ordinary phytase/kg diet or 500 U thermostable phytase/kg diet. The results indicated that broilers given diets supplemented with phytase have enhanced body weight and weight gain when compared with these fed basal diet (P 0.05). Dietary phytase supplementation significantly decreased fecal P excretion (P 0.05). The results indicated that dietary phytase supplementation can improve growth performance and metabolic status of P, and these effects appeared to be more pronounced in the thermostable phytase-supplemented group.