Effects of boron on growing pullets.

The effect of dietary boron on bone ash content and on the ultimate shear force, stress, and fracture energy of the tibia, femur, humerus, and radius from white Leghorn pullets were investigated. There was a significant increase in the shear force of the tibia and femur for pullets supplemented with 50 and 100 mg/kg of dietary boron. There was a significant increase in the shear stress of the tibia at 50 and 100 mg/kg of boron, and also an increase in shear fracture energy at 50 and 100 mg/kg boron for the femur. Tibia bone ash content increased significantly at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg boron with the highest value at 50 mg/kg. Even though there was not a significant increase in body wt at 50 and 100 mg/kg boron, the pullets fed these supplements were consistently heavier than the control group.