Selenium in dairy cattle of Sao Paulo state. III. Selenium supplementation at Descaivado, SP, Brazil

Abstract

In Agrindus Farm, at Descalvado, São Paulo, 30 dairy cows, with expected parturitions for 4 to 6 months from the beginning of the experiment, were distributed in a randomized design to three treatments: A) control; B) 2,0 kg of wheat bran/cow/day, as supplement of organic selenium; C) 2 mg of inorganic selenium/cow/day, as sodium selenite. The results from serum analysis for selenium showed that inorganic selenium supplementation significantly increased the serum selenium levels, but organic selenium supplementation did not. One event of retained placenta was registered in treatment C and another one in treatment A.