Blood and fecal selenium in sheep with the use of inorganic intraruminal boluses

Abstract

SELENIUM INCREMENT IN FECES AND BLOOD OF EWES, DUE TO SELENIUM INTRARUMINAL BOLUSES, WAS INVESTIGATED HAVING AS A SOURCE, 5 GRAMS IN WEIGHT, TILE CEMENT BOLUSES. THIS INVESTIGATION HAD THE FOLLOWING DESIGN: GROUP ONE (10 EWES) RECEIVED: BOLUSES WITH NO SELENIUM (SE) ADDED; GROUP TWO (14 EWES) RECEIVED: BOLUSES WITH 5% SE CONCENTRATION AND GROUP THREE (13 EWES) RECEIVED: BOLUSES WITH 10% SE CONCENTRATION. PREGNANT AND NON-PREGNANT, SUFFOLK AND RAMBOULLIET EWES FED BY GRAZING SYSTEMS WERE USED. ONCE BLOOD AND FECAL SAMPLES HAD BEEN ACID WET DIGESTED, SE CONCENTRATION WAS MEASURED BY HYDRIDE GENERATION IN AN ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETER AS FOLLOWS: EVERY 15 DAYS FOUR TIMES AND TWO MORE SAMPLES EVERY 30 DAYS. THE DESIGN WAS A RANDOMIZED, TWO-WAY, FACTORIAL ASSAY WITH REPEATED MEASUREMENTS. RESULTS INDICATED THAT BOLUSES WITH SE CONCENTRATION AFFECTED MEAN BLOD SELENIUM CONCENTRATION DEPENDING ON THE BREED OF THE ANMALS. BLLOOD SELENIUM AVERAGE CONCENTRATION VARIED THOUGH TIME. BOLUSES AFFECT SE CONCENTRATION IN FECES DIFFERENTLY ACCORDING TO PREGNANT STATUS. MEAN FECES SE VARIES THOUGH AND ACCORDING TO BREED.