Influence of organic selenium application in concentrate mixtures on selenium content in blood plasma and duck feces

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of different amounts of organic selenium (ALKOSEL® R397) in concentrate mixtures on the selenium content in the blood plasma and feces of ducks. The experiment was performed on 240 one-day-old ducklings (Cherry Valley) which were freely selected into 4 groups, one control K0 group, and three experimental K1, K2 and K3 groups. In two phases of feeding in fattening, ducklings were fed with two and nutritionally different concentrate feed mixtures: starter (from 1 to 14 days) and finisher (from 15 to 49 days of fattening). The control group of ducklings (K0) during feeding received food without added organic selenium in both phases of fattening. In both phases of fattening, the experimental group of ducks K1 was fed with food as well as the control group, but with the addition of 0.2 mg/kg of organic selenium, while the experimental group K2 used food with 0.4 mg/kg, and the experimental group K3 with 0.6 mg/kg of organic selenium. The addition of organic selenium to duck feed had the effect of increasing selenium content in both blood plasma and duck feces. The highest content of selenium in blood plasma and feces was determined in the group of ducks that received the highest amount of organic selenium through food during the entire experiment.