Hematological and Biochemical Performance of Poultry Following Zinc Oxide and Sodium Selenite Supplementation as Food Additives - Abstract
The present work was performed to study the effect of zinc oxide and sodium selenite alone or in combination on the growth performance of poultry when added to the ration as feed additives. One hundred and sixty of 1-d- old broiler chicken were used and divided equally into four groups each of 40 chicks as follow; basal diet supplemented group [1], zinc oxide (2 g /10 kg ration for 4 weeks) supplemented group [2], sodium selenite (15.4 mg / 10kg ration for 4 weeks) supplemented group [3] and combination group [4]. Each week from starting the experiment till the fourth week, blood samples and liver tissue were collected for assessment of selective hematological, biochemical and antioxidant enzymes activities of birds. The results achieved that zinc oxide and sodium selenite in combination had significant influence on broiler chicken antioxidant status, hematopoietic system responsibility and growth performance and did not induced hepatic and renal toxicity. In conclusion, zinc oxide and sodium selenite when used together with the presently used doses were powerful antioxidant nontoxic feed additives for poultry.