effect of various types and levels of organic selenium on poultry production, egg quality and selenium enrichment of eggs

a eight-week trial was carried out to investigate the effects of various levels and type of organic selenium as compared to inorganic selenium. total of 81 layer hens (lsl) 35 weeks of age were used in a randomized complete blocks with 9 treatments, 3 replications of 3 birds per experimental unit. treatment diets included control 0/3 mg/kg sodium selenite and selenium yeast, (250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg). qualitative characteristics of storing eggs under different conditions (23- 7°c) for 14 days determined. haugh unit of keeping eggs in room (23-27°c) was significantly (p<0.05). egg weight (p<0.05) and shell weight (p<0.01) of keeping eggs in (4°c) were influenced treatment diets. malondialdehyde (mda) values in egg yolks were increased (p<0.01) during storage and this increase was associated to temperature of storing. during the storage, eggs from selenium supplemented treatments had lower mda values than those from the non-supplemented ones (p<0.01). the selenium content of egg increased with additional inclusion of selenium into diet, and this was more evident with organic selenium (p<0.05). there were differences in effectiveness of organic selenium source on selenium concentration. it could be concluded that higher organic selenium content results to a higher selenium egg without affecting layers performances.