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Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of phytase which was laboratory produced by Aspergillus foetidus on the growth performance, mineral retention, and bone traits of broilers fed with low dietary calcium and phosphorus. Materials and Methods: The extracellular phytase enzyme secreted into the crude filtrate was concentrated by ammonium sulfate precipitation to obtain an activity of 500 phytase units (FTU). A total of 90 1-day-old chicks (Cobb 500) were randomly divided into three treatment groups with five replicates having six birds each. Dietary treatment, T1, was with 0.45% non-phytate P (NPP) during starter and 0.40% during finisher phase with 1% Ca. Dietary treatment, T2, had 0.37% NPP during starter and 0.32% in finisher phase with 1% Ca and supplemental lab phytase at 500 FTU/kg. Dietary treatment, T3, was similar to T2 with a lower Ca of 0.8%. Results: There was no significant difference among the dietary treatments with regard to body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and Ca retention (p>0.05). However, a significant improvement in retention of P by birds was observed in phytase supplemental groups T2 and T3 (p

Little is known about biological significance of effects of dietary Boron (B) and Calcium (Ca) interaction on health and production of farm animals. This is a preliminary investigation to evaluate the effects of B supplementation in lambs fed diets with (normal) or without adequate (low) levels of Ca. Twenty-four crossbred ram lambs were randomly distributed into four groups with six animals each in a 2x2 factorial design namely, normal-Ca diet (NCa) and low-Ca diet (LCa) fed without or with 40 ppm B (NCaB-40 and LCaB-40). The lambs were fed paddy straw and hybrid napier hay-based total mixed ration (60 roughage: 40 concentrate) during 180 days experimental period. Compared to control, the LCa diet lowered (P0.05) to become at par with the control (NCa) upon supplementation of B (LCaB-40). The mRNA expression of SOD1 was lowered (P0.05) with the control (NCa). Further, B-supplementation restored lowered (P