Figure 1

(A) Hemoglobin (g/L), (B) Total body Hb Fe content (mg), and (C) Hemoglobin maintenance efficiency (HME, %), in chicken fed the tested diets from d 0 to d 42 ¹ . ^*P < 0.05. ¹Values are means ± SEM, n = 14. ²Values are mean daily feed intakes for the 7 days proceeding the day designated in the column heading. ³Values are mean ± SEM (cumulative weekly from day 0). ^4,5Fe bioavailability was calculated as hemoglobin maintenance efficiency (HME) [5–9, 15]: $\mathrm{HME}=\frac{\mathit{Hb}\mathit{Fe},\mathit{mg}\left(\mathit{final}\right)-\mathit{Hb}\mathit{Fe},\mathit{mg}\left(\mathit{initial}\right)}{\mathit{Total}\mathit{Fe}\mathit{Intake},\mathit{mg}}\times 100.$ Where Hb-Fe = total body hemoglobin Fe. Hb Fe was calculated from hemoglobin concentrations and estimates of blood volume based on body weight (a blood volume of 85 mL per kg body weight is assumed) [5–9, 15, 22]: Hb - Fe(mg) = B. W. (kg) × 0.085 L blood/kg  ×  Hb (g/L) × 3.35 mg Fe/g Hb.