Effects of Vitamin E and Selenium on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, and Metabolic Parameters in Growing Furring Blue Foxes (Alopex lagopus)

The objective of this study was to determine whether different dietary vitamin E (VE) and selenium (Se) levels affect the nutrient digestibility, production performance, and antioxidant abilities of growing furring blue foxes. A 4 × 2 factorial arrangement that included 4 levels of VE (0, 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg diet from α-tocopherol acetate) and 2 levels of Se (0 or 0.2 mg/kg diet from glycine selenium) was performed from mid-September to pelting. A metabolism study was conducted for four days starting at the 30th day of the trial. Serum samples were collected at the last day of the study. The results showed that supplementation of growing furring blue fox diets with VE and Se significantly affected the average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (F:G) (P < 0.05). Dietary Se supplementation enhanced protein and fat digestibility of male blue foxes. There were significant effects of different VE and Se levels in diets on serum antioxidant parameters and metabolic parameters of blue foxes (P < 0.05). In conclusion, this research indicated that dietary supplementation with VE improved ADG and F:G of blue foxes. Addition of VE and Se to blue fox diets increased the antioxidant capacity of blue foxes. The diet with high VE and Se supplementation reduced glucose and triglycerides concentrations in serum. The present study found that growing furring blue foxes had increased growth performance and antioxidant abilities when fed diets with 200 mg VE/kg and nearly 0.1 mg Se/kg.