THE EFFECTS OF SODIUM SELENITE AND SELENIZED YEAST SUPPLEMENTATION INTO THE DIET ON LAYING HENS BODY WEIGHT

Abstract

In this experiment the effects of supplementation of the diet for laying hens with sodium selenite (SS) or selenized yeast (SY) on body weight of laying hens was studied. The chickens of Shaver Starcross 288 hybrid were randomly divided at the day of hatching into 4 groups (n=12; in each). The birds were fed from Day 1 of life to 9 months of age with diets differing in amounts and/or forms of selenium. Control group received basal diet (BD) containing selenium naturally occurring in feeds (0.1 mg Se/kg of dry matter (DM)). First and second experimental group of chickens were fed with a same BD enriched with equivalent dose of Se 0.4 mg/kg DM in form of sodium selenite or selenized yeast, respectively. The feed for third experimental group of birds consisted of BD supplemented with selenized yeast to the final amount of selenium 1.0 mg/kg DM. The supplementation of selenium into the diet significantly influenced the laying hens body weight for a breeding period (P0.05). The results showed that the body weight may be positively influenced by supplementation of laying hens with selenium, especially in the form of Se-yeast.

Keywords

• laying hens
• sodium selenite
• selenized yeast
• body weight