Effect of diet dilution ratio at early age on growth performance, carcass characteristics and hepatic lipogenesis of Pekin ducks

L Wu,Y Fang,X Guo

doi:10.1590/s1516-635x2012000100008

Abstract

This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that proper diet dilution ratio at early age might improve feed conversion ratio (FCR) and reduce body fat deposition of meat-type ducks. One hundred and fifty 1-day-old male and female White Pekin ducks (44.5±1.0 g) were randomly assigned into three treatments with five replicates (pens) of 10 birds each, respectively representing the experimental diets with 0 (control), 40 or 60% rice hulls inclusion in the basal diet between 8 and 14 d of age. The basal diet was fed before and after this period. The results showed that diluting the diet with 40% rice hulls increased (p 0.05) as the controls at 42 d of age. The diet diluted with 60% rice hulls resulted in lower (p < 0.05) body weight at market age than the other treatments. The diet with 40% rice hulls reduced (p < 0.05) skin with fat and abdominal fat pad, crude fat content in the carcass and in breast meat, and increased (p < 0.05) carcass crude protein at 42 d of age. These changes may be explained by the lower (p < 0.05) activities of hepatic malic dehydrogenase (MDH), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) and fatty acid synthetase (FAS) enzymes both at 14 and 42 d of age in birds fed the diluted diets relative to the control birds. The results of this study indicate that feeding diets diluted with 40% rice hulls to Pekin ducks between 8 to 14 d of age may induce compensatory growth during the following recovery period, and may be used to improve FCR and to reduce body fat deposition at market age.

Highlights

The world production of duck meat has steadily increased during the last few years
Current feeding strategies in growing Pekin ducks should aim at higher body weight gain, breast meat yield, better feed conversion ratio (FCR), and lower fat content of carcasses and cuts (Hall & Martin, 2006)
Since Wilson & Obsourn (1960) demonstrated the phenomenon of compensatory growth in poultry, many studies have reported that early feed restriction is beneficial for improving feed efficiency and decreasing fat content and production costs in broilers (Zubair & Leeson, 1994; Nielsen et al, 2003; Mohebodini et al, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

The world production of duck meat has steadily increased during the last few years. It was 3.78 million tons in 2008 and will continue to grow at a rate in excess of three per cent per annum (FAO2010). During the period of 15 to 42 d of age (refeeding period), the feed intake of the birds in the treatment with 40% dilution ratio was not different (p > 0.05), but weight gain was higher (p < 0.05) and FCR lower (p < 0.05) relative to the control birds.

Results

Conclusion