Effects of Cordyceps Feed Additive on Production Performance and Egg Quality in Laying Ducks

[ Objective ] To investigate effects of Cordyceps feed additive on growth performance, laying rate and egg quality in laying ducks. [ Method] A total of 270 healthy laying ducks were randomly divided into throe groups, 90 ducks in each group. The ducks in the control group, group I and group II were fed common basal diet, basal diet containing 10 g/kg Cordyceps feed additive and basal diet containing 40 g/kg Cordyceps feed additive, respectively. The trial lasted for 28 d. During the whole trial, the ducks were weighed and their growth was observed at an interval of 7 d. The exterior quality and the nutritive indexes of duck eggs were determined. [ Result] After experiments, the body weights of ducks in the group I and group II were increased and higher than that of the control group. In the group I and group II, the laying rate was increased by 1.07% and 2.15%, respectively; the egg weight was increased by 3.95% and 4.16%, respectively; and the feed to egg ratio was decreased by 2.54% and 4.23%, respectively. The egg shape and eggshell thickness were consistent between the control group and experimental groups. In the group I and group II, the protein content of the duck eggs was increased by 5.55% and 17.15%, respectively; the cholesterol content was decreased by 11.79% and 42.14%, respectively; the IgY level was increased by 13.20% and 27.97%, respectively; and the lecithin content was increased by 5.13% and 11.69%, respectively. [Condusion] The Cordyceps feed additive can increase the body weight and laying rate of laying ducks and improve the quality of duck eggs.

Desalted duck egg white nanogels as Pickering stabilizers for food-grade oil-in-water emulsion

Achieving the reuse of traditional egg by-products,salted duck egg whites(SEW),is an urgent problem to be solved.In this current work,we constructed a heat-induced gel-assisted desalination method for SEW.Subsequently,a top-down way was utilized to prepare desalted duck egg protein nanogels(DEPN)with uniformly distributed diameters and their application in the oil/water(O/W)interface system was explored.The results revealed that the increase of DEPN concentration could lower the droplet size,however,the size was negatively correlated with the oil phase fraction.Moreover,the effect of pH,ionic strength,and temperature on the emulsion stability demonstrated that the DEPN-stabilized emulsion displayed superior physical stability under different conditions.The addition of NaCl resulted in the significant decrease in droplet size of the emulsion,while further increasing the NaCl concentration,the droplet size did not decrease accordingly.Besides,heat-treatment and cold-treatment had little negative effect on the stability of the emulsion.Even if the droplet size of the emulsion increased at 80℃for 3 h,the morphology of the emulsion remained unchanged.Our study demonstrated DEPN had great potential as a stabilizer for food-grade Pickering emulsions.

Aqua Forestry and Duck Integration in Tamil Nadu, India

A study was taken up on integration of ducks in private and community fish ponds in Tami Nadu. A total of 50 ha of land under private holding and community water bodies each were selected to implement this model. Ducks were integrated based on the water spread area. Fodder, fruit, nuts, fuel, timber trees and vegetables were grown on pond bunds. Control units of fish ponds of farmers holding without integration of ducks also were taken up. A control unit also was established in the university farm land with and without integration of ducks. In private water bodies coconut trees and banana fetched additional revenue. During the first year the average fish production from the private land model was 1,552 kg and 1,731 kg for the first and second year respectively per Hectare. In community ponds the yields were 1,610 and 1,337 kg for the first and second year respectively. In field control units there was no increase in fish yield over the years. In private water bodies the beneficiaries got egg yield of 148 and 90 eggs and community water bodies 144 and 127 eggs per bird were obtained during first and second year resoectivelv.

Effect of Different Storage Periods on Egg Quality Traits of Ducks

The present study was conducted in each 20 eggs stored at 65 °F with 75% relative humidity, for a period of 5 weeks （T-I） 4 weeks （T-2）, 3 weeks （T-3）, 2 weeks （T-4） and 1 week （T-5） with broad end up. The external qualities of eggs like egg weight, length, width and volume were measured. After recording the external qualities the eggs were broken on a glass plate for studying the internal qualities. Storage period had no statistically significant effect on egg weight （g）, egg volume （%）, shell thickness （mm）, shell weight （g） and shell percentage. Egg weight values determined in this present study was between 61.10 and 64.91 g. The egg volume （%）, egg shell thickness （mm）, shell weight （g） and shell percentage for different storage periods were 87.46 and 98.52, 0.28 and 0.34 5.29 and 5.98; and 8.16 and 9.44 respectively. Yolk weight （g）, yolk percentage and albumen percentage was significantly affected （P 〈 0.01） by storage period and the values ranging between 32.20 and 36.40, 48.59 and 58.53 and 32.01 and 43.24 respectively. Storage period had no statistically significant effects on egg shape index and specific gravity. The storage periods on yolk index, yolk colour, albumen index and Haugh unit were statistically significant （P 〈 0.01）. Yolk index value decreased significantly when storage period was lengthened. This study concluded that yolk index, yolk colour, albumen index, albumen percentage and Haugh unit were decreased with increase in storage time.