Growth Performance of Muscovy Ducks (<i>Cairina moschata</i>) Fed Palm Kernel Meal Based Diets

From a total of 80 fertile eggs incubated naturally by female ducks, healthy sexed ducklings (n = 64, 32 males and 32 females ducklings) were randomly selected and allotted to four dietary treatments with four replicates, in a completely randomized design in order to evaluate the effect of varying levels of palm kernel meal (PKM) on performance of ducklings. The dietary treatments comprised R0-control ration, R50-50% PKM replacement, R75-75% PKM re-placement and R100-100% PKM replacement of soyabean meal. The main results revealed that the apparent digestive coefficients of dry matter (81.12%), organic matter (83.98%) and NDF (81.10%) were higher with the ration in which 50% (R50-50% PKM replacement of soyabean meal) of soybean was replaced by palm kernel meal. The highest feed intake in male was recorded with the ration containing 75% (R75-75% PKM replacement of soyabean meal) of palm kernel. This same ration (R75-75% PKM replacement of soyabean meal) equally induced the highest live weight and weight gain in females. The experimental design and arrangement is a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement with two sexes and four levels of PKM. In males, the control ration without palm kernel meal induced the highest live weight and highest cumulative weight gain. The lowest feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05) was recorded with the control ration regardless of the sex considered. The lowest cost of feed in-take and cost of production of a kg of body weight were obtained respectively in females and males fed on control ration. With the 50% (R50-50% PKM re-placement of soyabean meal) substitution of soybean meal, the carcass yield was the highest regardless of the sex. Serum content in ALAT, ASAT, creatinine, total cholesterol and total protein were not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by the incorporation of palm kernel meal into the diet. Urea serum content tends to decrease with the increasing level of palm kernel meal in feed. In conclusion, soybean meal can advantageously be replaced by palm kernel meal at the level of 75% (R75-75% PKM replacement of soyabean meal) in Muscovy duck feed.

Appropriate Metabolic Energy, Crude Protein, Calciumand Available Phosphorus Levels of Diet for BlackMuscovy Duck at 43-91 Days of Age

[Objective] The paper was to study the effects of diet formulation with different nutrition levels on growth and slaughter performance ofblack muscovy duck at the age of 43-91 days. [Method] Totally 288 individuals of 43dayold black muscovy duck were randomly divided intonine treatments, four repeats each treatment and eight ducks each repeat. UsingL9 （34） orthogonal experiment design （four factors and three levels）,three metabolic energy levels （12.32, 12.72, 13.12 MJ/kg）, three crude protein levels （14%, 16%, 18%）, three calcium levels （0.6%, 0.8%, 1.0%）and three available phosphorus levels （0.30%, 0.45%, 0.6%） were designed, and a total of nine feeding groups （C1C9） were designed according todifferent nutritional levels. Through combination of feeding test （49 d） and metabolic test （pretest 4 d and formal test 3 d）, the growth performance,meat performance and apparent nutrient digestibility of ducks were determined. [Result] The ducks in experimental group C2 had the highest average daily gain, the lowest feed gain ratio, the largest body oblique length, chest width, chest depth and tibia length, which had significant or extremely significant differences with other groups （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01）. The slaughter rate, semieviscerated rate, eviscerated rate and meat quality ofducks in C2 group were higher （P〈0.05）. The apparent digestibility of crude protein and dietary metabolic energy in C2 group were 88.68% and63.07%, respectively, both were significantly or extremely significantly higher than the other groups（P〈0.05 or P〈0.01）, while the interaction effectof calcium and phosphorus level on apparent digestibility was not obvious. [Conclusion] Under the experimental conditions, the suitable metabolicenergy, crude protein, calcium, available phosphorus and total phosphorus levels of 43 -91 days old black muscovy ducks were 12.32 MJ/kg,16.10%, 0.92%, 0.45% and 0.68%, respectively.