Determination in broilers and turkeys of true phosphorus digestibility and retention in wheat distillers dried grains with solubles without or with phytase supplementation

• Wheat-DDGS is a viable source of metabolisable energy and nutrients for poultry.
• Digestible phosphorus content in wheat-DDGS is 90% for broilers or 70% for turkeys.
• Phytase had no effect on phosphorus digestibility in wheat-DDGS for broilers and turkeys.

ABSTRACTWheat distillers dried grains with solubles (wheat-DDGS) is a viable source of phosphorus (P) for poultry. Two experiments were conducted to determine the true ileal P digestibility (TPD) and true total tract P retention (TPR) of wheat-DDGS without or with phytase supplementation for broilers and turkeys. In experiment 1 (broilers), wheat-DDGS inclusion linearly decreased (P < 0.05) dietary ileal DM digestibility and total tract DM and P retention. The coefficient of TPD without or with phytase for broilers was 0.94 or 0.96, respectively. The coefficient of TPR was 0.92 and 0.94 without or with phytase, respectively. In experiment 2 (turkeys), wheat-DDGS inclusion linearly decreased (P < 0.05) dietary ileal DM digestibility and total tract DM retention. The coefficient of TPD of wheat-DDGS for turkeys was 0.76 or 0.82 without or with phytase, respectively. The coefficient of TPR of wheat-DDGS without or with phytase was 0.71 and 0.82, respectively. Phytase had no effect (P > 0.05) on dietary ileal DM digestibility, total tract DM retention, ileal P digestibility and total tract P retention for broilers and turkeys. Phytase had no effect (P > 0.05) on TPD and TPR for broilers and turkeys. It was concluded that wheat-DDGS is a valuable dietary source of digestible P for broilers and turkeys.