Calcium and phosphorus balance in pig diets affects bone health, lameness, and production welfare. Optimized mineral nutrition prevents musculoskeletal welfare problems.
Pigs with calcium-phosphorus imbalances develop skeletal problems that cause pain and limit mobility. Sow fractures are a significant welfare and mortality cause in intensive systems. Nutritional formulation that provides appropriate mineral balance, enhanced by phytase enzyme supplementation for phosphorus bioavailability, prevents musculoskeletal welfare problems that accumulate over the production lifetime.