The present study demonstrated that there were significant
interactions between Se and PUFA supplementation
in the maternal diet and the level of Se and PUFA
in the tissues of the newly hatched chick. The fertility,
embryonic livability, and hatchability of the hatching eggs
increased with hen age and production level, as would
be expected. However, the inclusion of high levels of
PUFA in the broiler breeder diets can adversely affect
embryonic mortality, hatchability, and chickBWat hatching.
This study demonstrated that the addition of organoselenium
compounds to the maternal diet can ameliorate
the adverse effects of high levels of PUFA on hatching
chick BW.