An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different fluorine:phosphorus ratios in the diet on performance of broiler chickens. One thousand broiler chickens with one day old were allotted to a completely randomized experimental design with four treatments with five replications of fifty broilers per experimental unit. The treatments was composed by four phosphorus sources with fluorine: phosphorus ratios of 1:40, 1:60,1:80, 1:100 and fed during three experimental phases: 1-21, 22-42 and 43-49 days. In each phase, feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion were evaluated. At the end of experiment, two birds per replication were slaughtered and their tibias and samples of muscle tissue from breast were collected for determination of fluorine, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium contents. The fluorine to phosphorus ratios did not affect the performance of broiler chickens. Bone deposition of fluorine is proportional to their concentration in diet. However, the increase of fluorine levels in diet does not influence their deposition in the muscle tissue.
minerals; performance; phosphorus sources
