Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different housing systems, slaughter age, and sex on slaughter and carcass traits of native Turkish ducks. A total of 133 ducklings were used. One-day-old ducklings were divided into 2 housing groups, a cage system and a deep litter floor system, under uniform conditions. Housing system significantly affected hot carcass, cold carcass, breast, wing, neck, and back percentages (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, and P < 0.001). The results of the current study showed the influence of housing system, sex, and slaughter age on slaughter and carcass traits. The slaughter and carcass traits and feed conversion efficiency were higher in the deep litter floor system than in the cage system for native Turkish ducks. The slaughter and carcass traits of male ducks were higher than those of female ducks. The ideal slaughter weight for native Turkish ducks was reached at 8 weeks, whereas the results for hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, hot carcass percentage, and cold carcass percentage were better at 10 weeks of age. Therefore, it seems most appropriate to slaughter native Turkish ducks at 10 weeks of age.
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