Effect of inorganic selenium supplementation on selenium retention in postweaning swine

A total of 64 weanling pigs was used in a randomized complete-block experiment to evaluate the efficacy of various inorganic Se levels on weekly Se balance measurements over a 5-wk post-weaning period. Four-week-old weaned pigs were fed a 20% protein, corn-soybean meal diet supplemented with 0, .3, .5 or 1.0 ppm Se from sodium selenite. Eight pigs were allotted by weight, litter and sex to each metabolism crate. A 2-d preliminary period followed by a 5-d collection period was conducted for five weekly periods. Feed intake was provided ad libitum but was similar between dietary Se levels. Fecal Se excretion increased each week and with increasing dietary Se level. Apparent digestibility of Se was relatively constant for each period when inorganic Se was fed, averaging approximately 70%, whereas it ranged between 30 to 40% for pigs fed the basal diet during wk 2 through 5. Urinary Se decreased during the postweaning periods for pigs fed the basal diet, but increased linearly as dietary Se increased during the initial 2-wk postweaning period and then quadratically during wk 3 through 5. There was a net loss of Se from the body when the Se-unsupplemented basal diet was fed during the initial 2 wk postweaning, whereupon, it became positive. Selenium retention in pigs supplemented with inorganic Se increased each week of the trial. When Se retention was expressed in relation to Se intake, the resulting regression was linear (R2 = .99), suggesting that Se retention in the postweaning pig increased in direct proportion to the amount consumed when diets contained up to 1.0 ppm Se.