An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of adding phytase on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and dry matter and P excretion in growing-finishing pigs. A control diet (C) was formulated with l00% of the NRC P requirements, whi...
An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of adding phytase on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and dry matter and P excretion in growing-finishing pigs. A control diet (C) was formulated with l00% of the NRC P requirements, while a low P diet with 80% of the NRC P requirement (B), a low P dies with phytase (BP), and a low P diet with 40% wheat (BW) were fed to the other groups. The experiment lasted for 12 weeks. Pigs fed the B diet showed lower weight gain thaw those fed the other diets (P$lt;0.05), but pigs fed the BP and BW diets showed similar weight gain to those fed the C diet. No significant difference among dietary treatments was found in dry matter, protein and fat digestibilities. Adding phytase appeared to increase P utilization by more than twice during the growth phase (P$lt;0.05), and by 20%n during the finishing phase. The dry matter excretion per 100 ㎏ weight gain from pigs fed the BW diet was estimated to be 62.82 kg during the overall period, which was 11 % and 8% greater than those of pigs fed C and BP diets, respectively. However, N excretion in pigs fed the C diet was lower than those fed the other diets. The P excretion per 10(l ㎏ weight gain was 66% and 71% lower in pigs fed the B diet as compared with pigs fed C and BW diets respectively. Therefore, a low P diet with phytase could reduce P excretion by 30%. The lowest P concentrations in the serum and tibia were obtained in pigs fed the B diet; however, adding phytase elevated both serum and tibia P.