The Influence of Steam Pelleting on the Utilization of Phosphorus by the Laying Hen

SUMMERS et al. (1967) reported that commercial steam pelleting resulted in enhanced utilization of dietary phosphorus from plant origin when fed to young growing chickens. Considering the relatively high level of phytin or organic phosphorus present in most poultry diets and the fact that a large percentage of poultry feed is being steam pelleted the economic importance of such a finding is readily apparent. For the laying hen phosphorus from plant origin is usually considered to be around 50% available. However, from a review of the work of Singsen et al. (1962), Temperton and Cassidy (1964), Waldroup et al. (1965, 1967) and Nelson (1967) it is apparent that there are a number of factors influencing the availability of plant phosphorus and that there is lack of agreement as to how much can be utilized by poultry. The present work was undertaken to study the influence of steam pelleting on the…