The Impact of Different Levels of Vitamin E and Selenium on the Performance, Quality and the Hatchability of Eggs from Breeding Japanese Quails

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of vitamin E and selenium (Se) supplementation on the performance, egg quality and hatchability of eggs from Japanese breeding quails. The experiment was conducted over a 60 day period using 135 quails in a completely randomized design (CRD) with two levels of vitamin E and two levels of selenium (80 mg/kg of vitamin E+0.2 mg/kg organic selenium and 160 mg/kg vitamin E+0.4 mg/kg organic selenium). For each treatment, 3 replicates were considered. Each replicate included 15 quails (12 females and 3 males). Experimental results indicated that feed intake, shell thickness, the weight of egg whites and the percentage of egg hatchability stored for 7 days were significantly affected by the treatments (P