The Effect of Organic and Inorganic Selenium Supplementation on Egg Production Parameters and Egg Selenium Content of Laying Japanese Quail

This study was carried out to determine the effects of organic and inorganic selenium on egg production parameters and egg yolk and egg albumin's selenium contents of laying Japanese quails. A total of ninety 10-week-old quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) were allocated to five dietary groups of 18 quails in each. Quails were caged individually and fed diets without supplementation (basal diet), basal diet with inorganic Se (sodium selenite) 0.2 mg/kg Se containing diet and basal diet with 0.1 mg/kg Se, 0.2 mg/kg Se and 0.3 mg/kg Se containing diets for 8 weeks. At the end of the study, there were no significant differences between the groups in final body weight, feed intake, feed efficiency, egg yield and egg weight. Se concentration in egg yolk and egg albumin were higher in Se supplemented groups than control group (P<0.001) and it is established that organic Se supplementation was more effective than the inorganic Se supplementation for increase Se content of quail eggs.