Dietary phosphorus: How low can we go?

Precision feeding improves the economics of production and reduces potential negative environmental impacts. Canadian researchers studied how precise we can be when adding dietary phosphorus to poultry diets. Phosphorus (P) − one of the most expensive nutrients of poultry feeds − is an essential element for body functions, bone and egg shell formation. However, excessive faecal excretion of phosphorus has increasingly become an environmental issue due to oversupply of P in layer rations.