Duration of fertility and hatchability of the common duck (Anas platyrhynchos) in pure- or crossbreeding with Muscovy drakes (Cairina moschata)

Abstract

A total of 540 common duck dams were used for a comparison of duration of fertility and hatchability between eggs issued from common dams inseminated with sperm (175 x 10(6) dose(-1)) from either common (pure-breeding or PB) or Muscovy (crossbreeding or CB) drakes. Artificial inseminations (AI) were performed at 3 periods of the reproductive season (27-35, 39-43 and 49-56 weeks) with 2 alternate inseminations/period at 3-week intervals (one with semen from common and the other from Muscovy). Fertility was estimated from egg candling while early embryo mortality (EEM), medium embryo mortality (MEM) and late embryo mortality (LEM) was estimated on Days 0-6 (PB+CB), Days 7-25 (PB) or Day 28 (CB) of incubation, and after, respectively. Overall fertility from Days 2-12 after AI was 61.1% in PB and 42.8% in CB. The maximum duration of fertility (time interval between AI and last fertile egg) was 8.1 days in PB versus 6.4 days in CB (p<0.05). The age of the dam influenced this interval, particularly in PB, with a longer duration at 40 weeks compared to 50 (p<0.05). On average, EEM represented 2.5% of fertile eggs while MEM accounted for 5% of surviving embryos on Day 6 and LEM, for 11.5% of hatched eggs. MEM was significantly higher in CB (6.3%) compared to PB (3.9%; p<0.05). Overall, an increase in EEM and MEM was observed in both types of eggs at and after 50 weeks of age. An increase in EEM (regardless of dam's age) and in MEM (only in the oldest females) was observed with sperm storage duration. Sex ratio at hatching (49.2% males in PB vs. 53.0% in CB) was particularly unbalanced on the first fertile day (54.7% and 57.1%, respectively).