Effect of rock phosphate instead of dicalcium phosphate on serum mineral concentration and enzymic activity in starter Chicks

In order to reduce the cost of mineral mixture in egg type starters, present study was, planned to see the effect of rock phosphate (RP) as an alternate to dicalcium phosphate in their mineral mixture. In the experiment, two hundred and twenty five day old egg type chicks (WLH) were randomly distributed to 15 replicates of 15 chicks each and were allotted to 5 dietary treatments. Diet one (T₁) was control diet in which DCP was used as a sole source of P. Diets 2, 3, 4 and 5 (T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅) were same as T₁ except that in these diets DCP was replaced @ 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% with rock phosphate on P basis. In the present study, it was observed that use of lower levels of RP (40%, 60%) instead of DCP did not have significant influence on levels of ALT, AST and ALP in the serum. But further increase in the level of RP (80% and 100%) led to significant increase in the level of these enzymes. The serum mineral contents in starting chicks indicated that inclusion of RP to 80% and 100% (972 to 1214 ppm of F) instead of DCP reduced the concentration of serum mineral significantly. Hence it was concluded that 40% RP was beneficial to replace DCP in the mineral mixture of egg type startrs.