Synopsis Twenty medium‐weight hens aged 11 months and laying at about 70% were fed on a diet containing less than 0.04% Ca with or without supplemental P (0.31 or 0.69% total P respectively) for 4 weeks. Both groups were then fed on a standard layers’ diet containing 2.75% Ca and 0.6% P for a further 4 weeks. Egg laying ceased slightly earlier in the group receiving the higher level of P, but the effect was not significant (P < 0.05). The treatments had a similar influence on the recommencement of lay, on the size of the reproductive tract and on the degree of mineralisation of the skeleton. It was concluded that a low‐Ca diet containing no added P would be simpler and cheaper (by £9 to £10 per ton) for the induction of a resting phase in hens.
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Blair et al. (1973) studied this question.