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Role of Selenium in the Nutrition of the Chick^1,2,

Department of Poultry Science and Graduate School of Nutrition, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

In an attempt to establish that selenium is an essential trace element for chicks and not merely a substitute for vitamin E, the effects of feeding various diets low in selenium have been investigated. Chicks were protected against exudative diathesis by supplements to semipurified diets of either 10 ppm d-a-tocopheryl acetate or 0.04 ppm selenium. In contrast, chicks given diets prepared with crystalline amino acids and containing less than 0.005 ppm selenium had poor growth and high mortality even when the diet contained up to 200 ppm d-a-tocopheryl acetate. Higher levels of vitamin E prevented mortality but even with 1000 ppm growth was inferior to that obtained with supplements of selenium and no added vitamin E. A relationship was demonstrated between the selenium requirement and the level of vitamin E in the diet. Using diets containing 100 ppm vitamin E, the selenium requirement was less than 0.01 ppm, whereas with 10 ppm vitamin E it was more than 0.02 ppm and with no added vitamin E, approximately 0.05 ppm.

² Supported in part by Public Health Service Research Grant no. NB-05632, and by grants from the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America, Inc. and by Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc.

Manuscript received 3 October 1968.

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