Available Phosphorus Levels in Diets for Muscovy Ducks in Housing

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to determine ideal levels of available phosphorus for muscovy ducks in housing. Two hundred and forty muscovy ducks of creole lineage were used, distributed in boxes with water and food ad libitum. The experimental design was completely randomized with treatments consisting of six nutritional plans that included the initial, growth and termination phases and differed in relation to available phosphorus levels, and four replicates of 10 muscovy ducks each. The birds had weekly performance evaluations, and after 90 days, eight birds (four males and four females) in each treatment were slaughtered for evaluation of carcass traits. Data collected were subjected to Tukey test at 5% of significance. Differences were not observed (p>0.05) in performance. Higher available phosphorus levels presented a positive influence (p