Abstract:

The study was conducted to determine the effects of different levels of selenium yeast(SeY, added as selenium content) on growth performance and some biochemical indexes in Jinding laying ducks under high temperature (29-35℃). 144 Jinding laying ducks of rearing period (10-16 weeks old) were divided into 4 groups, control group, experimental groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ, supplemented with 0, 0.15, 0.45 and 0.75 mg/kg Se, respectively. The results showed that compared with the control group, the addition of SeY to the diets could significantly increase the average daily feed intakes (ADFI) of ducks at 14-16 weeks old (P<0.05); The body weights of ducks in group Ⅰ at 13-15 weeks old were significant higher than that in the control group (P<0.05),and the body weight at 16 weeks old was higher than the other three groups significantly (P<0.05),there was no significant difference between the body weight and standard body weight at 16 weeks old in group Ⅰ(P>0.05), but the body weights of other three groups were extremely significantly lower than the standard weight (P<0.01); There was no significant difference among the four groups for feed to gain ratios (F/G), while the group Ⅰ was the lowest; AST activities of group Ⅰ were significantly lower than group Ⅱ(P<0.05), LDH activities of groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ were lower than the control group significantly (P<0.05), and LDH activities of groupⅠ were lower than groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ significantly (P<0.05). TCH concentrations of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ were higher than group Ⅲ significantly (P<0.05). It is concluded that the addition of 0.15 mg/kg of Se (added as SeY) could obviously improve the growth performance of the laying ducks in reared cages, protect the function of liver, promote the TCH concentrations of duck serum.

Key words: laying ducks of rearing period; selenium yeast; high ambient temperature; cage rearing; growth performance; blood biochemical indexes