Symptoms of selenium deficiency in laying hens

When selenium deficiency: exudative quality of chicks and muscle stomach and heart automyopathy of young turkeys, plasma glutathione peroxidase and body weight gain decreased and mortality increased in ducklings with selenium deficiency. Ducklings who died of selenium deficiency showed necrosis of muscle and stomach, smooth muscle of small intestine, myocardium and skeletal muscle, as well as hydrocephalus and ascites. Vitamin E and selenium play a coordinated role in the prevention of these diseases. The chicks with severe selenium deficiency showed poor growth and feather development, fat indigestion, pancreatic atrophy and fibrosis, and decreased glutathione peroxidase activity in the pancreas. According to related reports: a continuous sampling study was conducted on pancreatic lesions, which began at the age of 6, showing the formation of vacuoles and transparent bodies of exocrine pancreas. With the development of deficiency, cytoplasmic degeneration occurs until the acini is replaced by a cell ring with fibrous tissue in the center of the cavity. Feeding vitamin E of IOOIU/kg and promoting its absorption with bile salt can maintain a high level of plasma tocopherol, which can greatly reduce the incidence of exudative quality. The pancreas of chicks did not show exudative quality before severe degeneration.