Effect of Nano-selenium particles and sodium selenite on performance, carcass characteristics and antioxidant enzymes of quails under heat stress

This study was designed to investigate the effects of Nano-Selenium and Sodium Selenite on performance, carcass characteristics, Glutathione Peroxidase and Superoxide dismutase of Japanese quail under heat stress condition. In this investigation, 300 Japanese quail chicks were used and the chickens were raised to 21 days in the same condition. The experiment was performed in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 treatments and 5 replicates of 20 chicks per replicate. The chickens daily were included under heat stress condition for 8 h at 34± 0.5oC. The results showed that weight gain and feed intake of chicks fed diets with Selenium Nano particles compared to the other two groups was significant (p < 0.05) as well as the FCR between different groups was no significant difference (p>0.05). The all three different treatments showed no significant effect on carcass composition (p>0.05) and increase in use of Nano-Selenium was more tender than sodium Selenite group, but not significant. The results revealed that glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity increased significantly in second experimental group using selenium (p < 0.05). In the present study, superoxide dismutase activity was significantly increased after adding 0.2 mg sodium selenite and nano-selenium (p < 0.05). The group of hemoglobin using selenium sources was significantly increased, but not significant increase in hematocrit. Results in this investigation revealed that Nano-Selenium is a better alternative compare to sodium Selenite.