Availability of phosphorus from ammonium polyphosphate for growing chickens

Phosphorus from ammonium polyphosphate was equivalent in availability to that of other phosphate sources commonly used in broiler rations, and it was more available than that from reagent-grade tricalcium phosphate. Two three-week experiments conducted with broiler chickens showed that growth rate, feed efficiency, viability, and bone calcification were improved to a similar extent by adding an equivalent increment of phosphorus from dicalcium phosphate, defluorinated phosphate, or ammonium polyphosphate. The results of these experiments suggest that ammonium polyphosphate may be a useful phosphorus supplement for practical poultry rations.