Table 9.

Excreta characteristics of broilers fed nutritionally adequate (PC) and downspec (NC) wheat based diets supplemented with increasing levels of phytase on d 18 and d 19 to 21.

Treatments	Excreta moisture1, %	Excreta pH2	Excreta free water3, %	Litter score4 d 35
Diet
NC	76.6	5.75b	26.8	2.2
PC	76.7	5.97a	27.3	1.9
SEM	0.38	0.05	1.08	0.1
Phytase, FTU/kg
0	77.5	5.84	30.2a	2.5
500	76.6	5.90	22.8b	2.0
1,000	76.8	5.82	28.0ab	1.6
1,500	75.8	5.88	27.2ab	2.0
SEM	0.54	0.08	1.52	0.16
Days
18	80.8a
19 to 21	72.6b
SEM	0.38
Dietary treatments
NC + 0 FTU/kg of phytase	77.6	5.69	30.6	3.0a
NC + 500 FTU/kg of phytase	77.6	5.76	24.4	2.0b
NC + 1,000 FTU/kg of phytase	76.4	5.75	27.3	1.6b
NC + 1,500 FTU/kg of phytase	74.8	5.80	24.9	2.0b
PC + 0 FTU/kg of phytase	77.5	5.99	29.7	1.9b
PC + 500 FTU/kg of phytase	75.5	6.05	21.2	2.1b
PC + 1,000 FTU/kg of phytase	77.2	5.88	28.8	1.7b
PC + 1,500 FTU/kg of phytase	76.8	5.95	29.6	2.1b
SEM	0.75	0.10	1.27	0.22
P-value
Diet	NS	<0.01	NS	0.05
Phytase	NS	NS	<0.05	<0.01
Days	<0.001
Diet × phytase	0.07	NS	NS	<0.05
Diet × days	NS
Phytase × days	NS
Diet × phytase × days	NS

^a,b Means in the same column with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05).

¹Excreta collected over 3 d (d 19 to 21).

²pH of excreta collected over 3 d (d 19 to 21).

³Excreta collected every 2 h for 4 times on d 18.

⁴Litter score from floor pens at d 35 (score 0 to 5). The lower score represents drier litter.