Table 4. Effects of dietary vitamin D3 concentration on tibia development in 21-day-old broilers (experiment 2)1)

Vitamin D3 (IU/kg) Bone weight (g/bone) Bone length (cm/bone) Mineral percentage (%) Mineral weight (g/bone)
Ash Ca P Ash Ca P
0 0.99d 5.15c 38.3b 13.0b 6.92b 0.37d 0.13d 0.07c
125 1.41c 5.98b 48.3a 17.8a 8.92a 0.67c 0.25c 0.13b
250 1.63bc 6.1ab 49.5a 18.4a 9.56a 0.80b 0.30b 0.16a
500 1.73ab 6.15ab 49.5a 17.8a 9.50a 0.85ab 0.31b 0.16a
1,000 1.89a 6.35a 49.3a 18.1a 9.37a 0.93a 0.34a 0.18a
2,000 1.89a 6.30ab 48.9a 17.9a 9.19a 0.92a 0.34a 0.17a
SEM 0.06 0.08 0.8 0.4 0.18 0.04 0.01 0.01
p-value
 Linear < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05
 Quadratic < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05 < 0.05
Each value represents the mean of five repetitions (two broilers per repetition) (n = 5).
Values with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05).
Ca, calcium; P, phosphorus.