Defluorinated rock phosphate?

[sqatkins]

Hey chicken whisperers. The newbie here has been voraciously reading everything I can get my hands on to figure out how to tend my 5 pullets. From Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, I came across this advice:

"To balance the calcium supplement, offer phosphorus in the form of defluorinated rock phosphate or phosphorus-16 in a separate hopper and make it available at all times."

Not only can I not find a source to purchase this supplement, but employees at my local feed store have never heard of the practice.

Thoughts?

 

[GC-Raptor]

Never heard of that. The fortified poultry feeds I buy have the proper amount of phosphorus.

I just supply Oyster Shells, Poultry Grit and Water. Scratch Grains for a treat. GC

 

[Folly's place]

x2.
I bought the new Story's guide, and have been reading it. So far, it has some strange recommendations, and this is one of them.
Feed a balanced chicken feed, and have oyster shell in a separate container for your laying hens, and it's fine.
Mary

 

[Tkboyer007]

Hey chicken whisperers. The newbie here has been voraciously reading everything I can get my hands on to figure out how to tend my 5 pullets. From Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, I came across this advice:

"To balance the calcium supplement, offer phosphorus in the form of defluorinated rock phosphate or phosphorus-16 in a separate hopper and make it available at all times."

Not only can I not find a source to purchase this supplement, but employees at my local feed store have never heard of the practice.

Thoughts?

I’m reading that book as well, and like you, cannot find any to purchase

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hey chicken whisperers. The newbie here has been voraciously reading everything I can get my hands on to figure out how to tend my 5 pullets. From Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, I came across this advice:

"To balance the calcium supplement, offer phosphorus in the form of defluorinated rock phosphate or phosphorus-16 in a separate hopper and make it available at all times."

Not only can I not find a source to purchase this supplement, but employees at my local feed store have never heard of the practice.

Thoughts?

and you won't find it, either.

Offering phosphorus separately has gone the way of the dodo.

**Most** biological processes (except shell creation), use calcium and phosphorus at a ratio of 2:1. So you will frequently find (non-layer) chicken feed formulations with around 1% calcium +/- 0.25% with phosphorus at 0.5%. Chickens can't process phytate - which is the primary means by which plants store phosphorus. Phytates also block absorption of a number of important things - iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc (among others). Your guaranteed feed label will show non-phytate phosphorus, which they can use.

I like to look for a feed with 0.6% - 0.7% phosphorus, because moderrn science has found that chickens aren't quite as efficient at absorbing phosphorus in the diet from non-phytate source as they are at absorbing calcium.

When that's not available, and you are concerned for phosphorus levels (either due to a knowingly deficient feed, or free ranging on deficient soils), you should suppliment with dicalcium phosphate or calcium diphosphate instead of oyster shell. SO sayeth the research. and as an added bonus, "excess" phosphorus acts as a buffer against calcium toxicity, protecting young birds, roosters at all ages, etc somewhat from that condition. While those substances are primarily used elsewhere in the world, where calcium in the form of oyster shell is not readily available (such as the Mediterranean Basin), they are available here in the US and Canada with a bit of searching (Amazon, NOT the farm store!)

Hope that helps.

and yeah, I read Storey too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

oh, and oyster shell is around 94-97% Calcium Carbonate - essentially no phosphorus in it.

The calcium source we humans need as a suppliment, or that we give to a hen with egg problems, it calcium citrate - about the only form of calcium the human body can mostly process before it passes thru us. For chickens, its the next best thing to a shot in the arm. Again, essentially no phosphorus (or truly none at all in some of the supermarket offerings).

/edit and if you have a LOT of chickens, a serious need, and a good HORSE store nearby, look for a tub of Di-Cal.

 

[EuroChook]

It's pretty sad days when we now live in what appears to be an information blackout in the 21st century. It's even sadder days when my post on phosphorus at backyard chickens appears as the first hit on Bing and Google.