Abstract
Thirty six barrows with an initial body weight of 28 kg were used to determine the effect of two dietary Se sources and a wide range of Se levels encompassing 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, and 10.0 mg/kg Se. The organic Se form was a Se-enriched yeast product, whereas the inorganic Se source was sodium selenite. The experiment was a $2{\times}6$ RCB design conducted in three replicates. Each barrow was placed in an individual metabolism crate and provided their dietary treatment and water on an ad libitum basis for a minimum 2 wk period, whereupon feed intake was adjusted to a constant intake within replicate at approximately 90% of intake for a 4 d adjustment period. Urine and feces were subsequently collected for a 7 d period and analyzed for Se and minerals. The results demonstrated that urinary Se was approximately 25% higher when pigs were fed sodium selenite (p<0.01), whereas fecal Se was lower by 25% (p<0.01). Se retention tended to be higher when organic Se was provided (p>0.15). Urinary Se increased as dietary Se level increased for both Se sources but increased more and at a high rate when sodium selenite was fed resulting in an interaction response (p<0.01). Fecal Se increased linearly as the dietary level of both Se sources increased, but the fecal Se from organic Se increased at a faster rate resulting in an interaction response (p<0.01). Se retention increased linearly (p<0.01) as dietary Se increased for both Se sources. The apparent digestibility of Se increased by Se level when pigs were fed sodium selenite, but not when the organic Se source was provided resulting in an interaction response (p<0.05). Retention of consumed Ca, Zn increased when pigs were fed organic Se (p<0.05) whereas P and Na retention were higher when the inorganic Se was provided. Mineral retention was not affected by dietary Se level except P. These results suggest that Se excretion by urine was the main route of excretion when pigs were fed sodium selenite but the fecal route when Se-enriched yeast was provided. The excretion of Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu via urine and feces was not affected by high dietary Se level or dietary Se sources.