Selenium in dairy cartle of São Paulo state. V. Selenium supplementation for cows at the end of gestation

Abstract

Thirty dry Holstein cows were distributed in a completely randomized design to three treatments: A) control; B) 2 mg of selenium/cow/day; C) 4 mg of selenium /cow/day. At parturition time the treated animals presented a significant (P ≤0.01) increase in serum selenium levels. Cows reared on treatment C presented significantly (P ≤0.01) higher selenium levels than those from the B group. Animals which received selenium were breeded sooner and required less services per conception than the control group, but the difference was not significant.