Effects of feeding different levels of proteins on the performance in Khaki Campbell ducks during starter stage

Abstract

The present study was conducted on the 225 unsexed day-old Khaki Campbell ducklings in the Regional Centre, CARI, Bhubaneswar during the period between March to June, 2013. The ducklings were randomly distributed into three treatment groups viz. T1, T2 and T3 supplemented with 18, 20 and 22 per cent crude protein respectively and three replicates in each group to study the effect of feeding different levels of proteins on the performance of the ducks during starter stage. It was found that the live weight of ducklings in different treatments group increased steadily up to 8 weeks of age attaining the lowest body weight of 1243.45±23.01 g in T1 and highest body weight of 1292.97±0.71 g in T3. Significantly (p£0.05) lower daily feed intake was observed in T3 during 3rd week of age than T1 and T2 and the intake was significantly (p£0.05) lower in T3 than T1 but not from T2 at 8th week of age. The apparent metabolisibility of dry matter in T1, T2 and T3 were 75.46±0.90, 77.70±0.30 and 79.38±0.89 per cent, respectively and there was a significant difference in the metabolisability of dry matter (per cent) among different treatments. The nitrogen intake was significantly (p£0.05) higher in T3 (3.63 g/day) than T1 (3.16 g/day), but the difference between T3 and T2 was found to be non-significant. The impact of different levels of protein supplementation in the diet of ducks was found to be non-significant with respect to blood glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, albumin and globulin ratio, total cholesterol and creatinine concentration after 8 weeks of age. It can be concluded that with increase in the supplementation of protein in the Khaki Campbell ducks during the starter period significantly better impact the health and productive traits of the birds and thereby the overall economic status of the farm.