Effect of adding linseed and selenium to diets of layer hen's on performance, egg fatty acid composition and selenium content.

Summary In a 4×3 factorial experiment, six hundred 31-week-old laying hens were fed diets containing 0, 25, 50 and 100 g/kg linseed with control, 0.3 mg/kg organic selenium (OrSe) and 0.3 mg/kg inorganic selenium (InSe) to determine the effects of diet on performance, eggshell parameters, egg fatty acid composition and selenium (Se) content of eggs. Laying hens were randomly assigned to 12 experimental groups with 5 replications. Linseed supplementation decreased egg production (d 1- 30), feed consumption (d 1-30 and 1-90) and egg weight (d 60-90 and 1-90). Shell weight and thickness decreased when dietary linseed was increased. There were interactions between Se and linseed in feed consumption, feed efficiency, damaged egg ratio and shell thickness. The inclusion of InSe and OrSe increased the Se content of the eggs. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), α-linolenic acid (ALA) and n-3 fatty acid concentrations in egg yolks increased with increasing dietary linseed. There were also interactions between linseed and Se in ALA and n-3 fatty acid concentrations. In conclusion, the addition of linseed to the diets increased DHA, EPA, ALA and n-3 fatty acid concentrations in egg yolks, and the addition of Se increased the Se content of the eggs. Egg fatty acids (ALA, n-3 fatty acid) were increased by supplementing dietary linseed with OrSe.