Selenium Deficiency in the Young Pig

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Abstract
Selenium deficiency was studied by using pigs obtained from litters of sows fed a diet deficient in selenium and low in vitamin E. Vitamin E or selenium prevented death losses in pigs, but pigs that were not supplemented with either vitamin E or selenium died between 3 and 21 days after weaning at about 4 weeks of age. In the presence of vitamin E, selenium supplementation improved growth, feed intake, feed:gain ratios and digestibilities of dry matter, nitrogen and ether extract. The results suggest that a level of .05 ppm selenium, in addition to the .01 to .02 ppm present in the Torula yeast diet, is adequate for the pig. Thus the minimum requirement for selenium for the growing pig fed a semipurified diet containing 100 IU of vitamin E is less than .1 ppm. Copyright © 1977. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1977 by American Society of Animal Science.