Effect of Vitamin E and selenium supplementation on blood constituents and immune response of broiler chickens during summer

Abstract

The present experiment evaluates the effects of supplementing vitamin E and Selenium in the diet of broiler chickens during summer season on blood constituents and immune response. Two hundred forty day-old broiler chicks were divided into four equal treatment groups, with three replicates of 20. The control (T0) group was fed with the Basal diet, group T1 with Basal diets + Vitamin E @ 100 mg/kg and Selenium @ 0.20 mg/kg, group T2 with Basal diets + Vitamin E @ 125 mg/kg and Selenium @ 0.25 mg/kg, and group T3, with Basal diets + Vitamin E @ 150 mg/kg and Selenium @ 0.3 mg/kg, respectively, for 6 weeks. The mean values of Hb (%), PCV (%), and WBC (thousand/mm3) of broiler chickens of different treatment groups differed significantly (p<0.001). The mean values of serum glucose, Total protein, Albumin, Globulin, SOD, Glutathione Peroxidase, GSH, AST, ALT, and cortisol were different significantly (p<0.001) among the treatment groups. The overall mean of antibody titre levels against NDV and IBDV in the T0 group was significantly (p<0.001) lower than the other groups without any significant difference between the T2 and T3 groups. It can be concluded from the study that supplementation of vitamin E and selenium @ 100 g and 0.2 mg per kg diet is beneficial for broiler birds during summer heat stress conditions.