The importance of microelements in forming duck liver morphology

Microelement composition in a diet influences the morphology of duck liver is described. Microelement composition of the duck food was studied in accordance with GOST (State Standard Specification), which states the selenium content amounting to 0.06 mg/kg for the growing ducks and 0.14 mg/kg for adult ducks. The experiment on Pekin ducks aged from 1 to 120 days implied that the control group received basic diet and the experimental group received DAFS-25k (Diacetofenonilselenide) in accordance with the product instruction during the whole period of raising. The studies were undertaken at an interval of 15 days. Liver structure of one-day ducks had typical anatomy. Connective tissue was moderately marked, tubular structure was clearly marked, hepatocytes had polygon shapes, the nuclei were oval or round, located centrally, they contained from one to four nucleoli. Vacuolated cytoplasm was observed for 15-day ducks from the control group. For the experimental group: hepatocyte nuclei had the same size, cytoplasm was homogeneously coloured, sinusoidal capillaries with red blood cells were clearly marked. In critical periods of raising, namely on the 30th day, when neoptile was replaced with primary plumage, and on the 75th day, during post-juvenile moult, for the control group we could observe granular cytoplasm structure, which is a characteristic feature of granular degeneration; for the experimental ducks: liver structure had definitive structure, morphofunctionally active. For 120-day ducks from the experimental group: the liver retained its tubular structure, had singular fat build-ups; for the control group: clear signs of hepatosteatosis. DAFS-25k did not have negative influence on morphofunctional activity of the organ; the selenium content in the liver of 120-day ducks from the experimental group amounted to 0.52 mcg/kg compared to 0.31 mcg/kg for the control group.