Enrichment of zinc and selenium in eggs affected by high-zinc and high-selenium diets formulated with various inorganic zinc sources

A total of 960 Lohmann brown laying hens were randomly allotted to one of 10 treatments of 96 hens each. In addition to one control premix, nine experimental premixes were formulated in an orthogonal design of three zinc levels, three zinc sources and three selenium levels. One treatment was randomly fed one of the premixes for 30 days. Both zinc and selenium in eggs were assayed on days 15 and 30 after the experiment started. Accumulation of selenium in eggs was significantly (P0.05) affected by dietary selenium 15 days after feeding, very significantly (P0.01) affected by dietary zinc and selenium 30 days after feeding, and also significantly (P0.05) affected by zinc sources. Zinc levels in eggs were not affected (P0.05) by dietary zinc and selenium and zinc sources 15 and 30 days after feeding.