Nonruminant Nutrition: Mineral Nutrition

Calcium formate (CaFo; Rovelan–Lanxess Corporation, Germany) is a commonly used source of calcium in poultry and swine feed in the EU. Due to increased cost, US interest in alternate feedstuffs has grown. The objective of this study was to evaluate CaFo in broiler diets as an alternate calcium source during a 49d pen trial. A total of 2,160 male Cobb 500 broilers were randomized and placed in 40 floor pens with 50% used litter and 50% fresh pine shavings. Four experimental groups (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% CaFo) were evaluated with 10 replicate pens per treatment. Bulk pen weights were determined at the conclusion of each feeding phase (d15, 28, 42, and 49). Additionally, at d15, 28, and 42, one bird was removed from each pen and tibia removed for determination of bone strength and ash. At termination (d49) an additional 3 birds were removed from each pen for tibia sampling. Parameters evaluated for each phase included average BW, FCR, bone strength, bone ash content, and mortality. With regard to BW, significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) were seen at d15 with 1.0% CaFo showing decreased BW. At d28 the 0.5% CaFo diet showed increased BW with respect to the 1.0 and 1.5% CaFo diets. At d42 and 49 all diets yielded statistically equivalent BW. For the duration of the trial, no differences were observed with regard to FCR among diets. No significant differences were seen among treatment groups with regard to mortality, tibia weight, or bone ash percentage. With respect to tibia breaking strength, a significant increase in breaking force was observed in the 1.0% CaFo treatment group in comparison to the control and 1.5% CaFo groups. These data suggest that CaFo may be used as a calcium alternative in broiler diets and may potentially increase bone strength in larger broilers when included at the appropriate concentration.