Chloe Hagen
Phytase has been used commercially to increase the digestibility of inorganic phosphorus. The objective was to see if phytase releases less phosphorus when a pig is fed a P-adequate diet compared to a P-inadequate diet. To answer this question, we determined the phosphorus and dry matter digestibility using the urine and fecal collections from two repetitions of a metabolism trial. We used 48 barrows total and used 24 each repetition. Each repetition period included 25 days of adaptation to the diet followed by 5 days of fecal and urine collection in a metabolism crate. The amount of absorbed phosphorus as the phosphorus excreted in the feces was included in this data. We used those two values to calculate the apparent total tract digestibility of the phosphorus. We had 8 total dietary treatments. Four diets were adequate in phosphorus and four were inadequate in phosphorus. Each of those diets also had a level of phytase included at the rate of 0 ftu/kg, 350 ftu/kg, 600 ftu/kg, and 1000 ftu/kg. We used these values so we could actually see if there was a difference in the digestibility of the phosphorus.
Funding Organization: Iowa Pork Producers Association
Duration: 04/30/2019
Principal Investigator(s): Dr. John Patience