Effects of zinc-L-selenomethionine on growth performance, carcass yield and selenium concentration of breast meat in Japanese quails

Abstract

The aim of this study was investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of organic selenium as zinc-L-selenomethionine (Zn-L SeMet) on growth performance, carcass yield and selenium concentration of breast meat in Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). A total of 300 quails were randomly divided into 5 treatment groups with 3 replicates (20 quails/each replicate), as control (0 mg/kg), dose 1 (0.1 mg/kg), dose 2 (0.2 mg/kg), dose 3 (0.3 mg/kg) and dose 4 (0.4 mg/kg) diet supplementation of Zn-L-SeMet. The supplementation was applied between 7-35 days of growing period. The quails in dose 2 and dose 3 groups were heavier with values of 179.2 g and 177.8 g, respectively, than control (152.6 g), dose 1 (163.7 g) and dose 4 (167.0 g) at 35 days of age. The highest cumulative feed consumption was observed for the quails in the control and dose 3 groups (respectively, 582.3 g and 580.7 g, P<0.01). Feed conversion rate was more efficient with values of 3.19 and 3.27 in dose 2 and dose 3 groups (P<0.01). Slaughter weight and carcass weight were found to be higher in dose 2 (respectively, 181.2 g and 131.9 g) and dose 3 (respectively, 177.0 g and 129.5 g) groups (P<0.05). The highest Se concentration of breast meat was observed with a value of 0.32 % in the birds fed with dose 4 diet. On the other hand, the lowest Se concentration of breast meat was found with a value of 0.20% in the control group (P<0.01). These findings showed that dietary supplementation of Zn-L-SeMet has a potential stimulating effect for growth performance, slaughter yield and improving of selenium concentration of breast meat in Japanese quails.