Growth performance of broilers fed calcium humophosphate as a replacement for monocalcium phosphate from 0 to 41 days
Phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) are essential nutrients for growth and skeletal development in broiler chickens. However, excessive dietary Ca may impair intestinal P utilization through its interaction with phytate, reducing nutrient availability. Calcium humophosphate, an organo-mineral source of P and Ca, could interact with Ca and limit its recomplexation with phytate phosphorus, supporting dietary P utilization. The objective of this study was to evaluate the replacement of monocalcium phosphate (MCP; total P = 22.7%; 100% P availability coefficient; total Ca = 16%) with calcium humophosphate (CHP; total P = 22%; 124% P availability coefficient; total Ca = 16%) on broiler growth performance.
A total of 14,960 Ross 308 broilers were allocated to two dietary treatments with eight replicates per treatment and 935 birds per pen. Birds were fed corn-wheat-soybean meal-based diets from 0 to 41 days of age, formulated according to commercial nutritional specifications and supplemented with 1,500 FTU/kg phytase. Body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, were evaluated at 41 days. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Differences were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05. At 41 days, growth performance did not differ significantly between treatments (P > 0.05), with final body weight of 2,726.6 and 2,754.4 g, feed intake of 3,910.9 and 3,846.0 g, and feed conversion ratio of 1.631 and 1.608 for MCP and CHP, respectively. In conclusion, calcium humophosphate maintained growth performance while reducing phosphate inclusion by 17% compared with MCP throughout the production cycle, supporting precision formulation and more efficient use of mineral resources.