Dr. Roselina: Calcium effects on broilers

Dr. Roselina Angel, Professor at the University of Maryland in the U.S., talked with aviNews International about the Calcium effects on broilers development and how the calcium requirements have changed at the World’s Poultry Congress in Paris, 2022. The research focus of Dr. Roselina is on improving nutrient retention and reducing nutrient waste in broilers and laying hens through the use of feed additives, nutrient changes, and proper selection of the ingredients. Calcium is a required nutrient for proper bone growth, together with phosphorus, and it is used for a lot of metabolic processes. So, Calcium is a micromineral requirement. “What we have been working on is primarily on the negative effects of calcium intend to overused calcium will formulate to very high levels of calcium in diets. The requirements from the breeding companies are currently too high.” In general, we see high levels of calcium in diets beyond those that the company has formulated. So we are trying to work on projects that actually give the tools to the commercial nutritionists to reduce calcium in the diets while maintaining digestibility. It is because calcium is [register] a very reactive nutrient and it has negative effects on the digestibility of other nutrients said Dr. Roselina. Other discussed topics during the interview were:

• What are the negative effects of calcium?
• How have calcium levels in broiler diets changed over time?
• How do the low or high calcium levels affect the development of broilers?
• How can we optimize the use of calcium? And how does this influence the use of phosphorus?
• How can we identify a calcium deficiency in live birds?
• What are the challenges in calcium supplementation to guarantee good broilers development?
• What is new in the research about Calcium?

To watch the full interview check out the video or click here