. 2020 Dec 15;7:603284. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.603284

Table 2.

Effect of limestone particle size and dietary potassium (K) on feed intake (FI), body weight (BW), BW gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) from 1–16 days to 1–33 days of age.

Limestone¹	Potassium²	Age period (days)
		1–16			1–33
		FI	BWG	FCR	FI	BWG	FCR
		g/bird		(g:g)	g/bird		(g:g)
Fine		749	560	1.33	3,101	2,194	1.41
Coarse		750	551	1.36	3,146	2,208	1.43
	K–	763^A	567^A	1.34	3,172^A	2,235^a	1.42
	K+	736^B	544^B	1.35	3,074^B	2,167^b	1.42
Fine	K–	760	571	1.33	3,126	2,205	1.42
Fine	K+	737	550	1.34	3,074	2,182	1.41
Coarse	K–	766	563	1.36	3,219	2,264	1.42
Coarse	K+	736	538	1.36	3,073	2,151	1.43
	SEM³	9.6	7.7	0.017	34.7	30.2	0.011
		(Probability > F)
Limestone		0.85	0.22	0.12	0.20	0.64	0.28
Potassium		<0.01	<0.01	0.64	0.01	0.03	0.91
Limestone × Potassium		0.67	0.83	0.91	0.67	0.15	0.50

^a,b

Means within a column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (P < 0.05).

^A,B

Means within a column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (P < 0.01).

Limestone particle size (starter and grower); Fine (0.2 mm) and coarse (0.9 mm).

Potassium carbonate (starter and grower); (K–) basal levels of K; (K+) 0.20% added K.

SEM, Standard error of mean for n = 6 pens for each interaction effect.