EFFECTS OF DIETARY CALCIUM, PHOSPHORUS, CALCIUM - PHOSPHORUS RATIO AND VITAMIN-K ON PERFORMANCE, BONE STRENGTH AND BLOOD-CLOTTING STATUS OF PIGS

Three factorial experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of various Ca:P ratios (1:1, 2:1 and 3:1) in diets having deficient (.3%), adequate (.6%) and excess (.9%) levels of dietary P on rate and efficiency of gain and bone strength of 192 pigs from 18 to 40 kg BW. A corn-soybean meal diet fortified with minerals and vitamins (but not vitamin K) was fed. Levels of Ca and P were achieved by adjusting the amounts of dicalcium phosphate and ground limestone in the diet. The corn was free of detectable mycotoxins. A hemorrhagic condition occurred in Exp. 1 in pigs fed the higher dietary Ca levels; all eight of the pigs fed 2.7% dietary Ca died of internal hemorrhage within the initial 28 d of the experiment. Vitamin K (5 mg menadione [as menadione dimethylpyrmidinole bisulfite]kg) was added to half of the diets of the remaining animals and the experiment was continued for an additional 14 d. Prothrombin and whole blood clotting times were increased (P < .01) in pigs fed high Ca without vitamin K but were normal in pigs fed high Ca with added vitamin K. Similar trends in clotting times occurred in a second experiment. A third experiment was conducted to determine whether the addition of vitamin K could reverse the hemorrhagic condition induced by feeding high dietary Ca for 28 d. As in the other two experiments, clotting times were increased (P < .01) in pigs fed high Ca and no vitamin K. Addition of vitamin K after 28 d resulted in a return to basal prothrombin values by d 50. In regard to the original objectives, increasing the Ca:P ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 or 3:1 tended to reduce rate and efficiency of gain at all levels of P. Increasing the Ca:P ratio to 2:1 resulted in increased bone strength only when P was at or above the dietary requirement.