Activity of gallium on prevention of fatal cage-layer osteoporosis.

The prevention of fatal cage-layer osteoporosis of gallium was studied in this paper. One-day-old hens were fed up to 68 weeks on a control diet and diets containing gallium. Plasma variables were measured during lay. End-of-lay trabecular and medullary bone volumes in the proximal tarsometatarsus and free thoracic vertebra were measured by histomorphometry. Medullary and trabecular bone volumes were increased significantly by supplementation with gallium. The experiment confirmed that dietary gallium supplementation was an effective way to enhance the egg production and reduce mortality percentage. The beneficial effects of gallium supplementation over the lifetime of the hens were attributable mainly to improved cage-layer osteoporosis.