Effect of inorganic versus organic selenium on hen production and egg selenium concentration

A 28-d experiment using 288 Hy-Line W-36 laying hens was conducted to compare sodium selenite (SS) with Se-enriched yeast (SY). The Se from SS or SY was supplemented into a corn-soybean meal basal diet at 0, 0.15, 0.30, 0.60, or 3.00 ppm, and the basal diet was formulated to provide 0.82% lysine and 2,950 kcal/kg of ME. Each treatment was replicated 4 times with 2 cages of 4 hens per cage in each replicate. Hen production was assessed daily, and 2 eggs per replicate were collected every 4 d for whole-egg Se analysis. Albumen quality was assessed at 2 egg storage temperatures (7.2 vs. 22.2 degrees C) with the eggs collected on d 24 and 28, respectively. The percentage of dirty and cracked eggs was greater (P < 0.04) in hens fed SY than in those fed SS. Percentage hen-day production was not affected (P > 0.05) by diet. Albumen quality of eggs stored at 22.2 degrees C was improved (P < 0.04) in eggs from hens fed SS, but there was no difference (P > 0.05) in albumen quality of eggs stored at 7.2 degrees C. Egg weight was linearly increased (P < 0.01) by SY. Whole-egg Se levels were linearly increased (P < 0.01) as dietary Se level increased for both sources of Se, but eggs from hens fed SY had higher (P < 0.01) Se concentrations than those fed SS. The results from this experiment indicate that percentage hen-day production is not affected by Se source, and that SY increases egg Se concentrations more than SS.