Feeding selenium-biofortified alfalfa hay during the preconditioning period improves growth, carcass weight, and nasal microbial diversity of beef calves
Fig 2
Comparison of baseline-adjusted BW (kg; mean ± SEM) of weaned beef calves (primarily of Angus breeding and ranging in age from 6 to 9 months at baseline).
During the 9 week preconditioning period, calves consumed alfalfa hay harvested from a field not fertilized with Se (Control) or from a field fertilized with sodium-selenate (High Se; application rate of 90 g Se/ha; n = 15 calves per group for Control and High Se). Body weights at baseline ranged from 264 to 369 kg (328 ± 5 kg, mean ± SEM), and final body weights at the end of the preconditioning period ranged from 288 to 411 kg (366 ± 5 kg, mean ± SEM).