Nutritional strategies to support performance of commercial Pekin ducks exposed to a high-temperature thermal challenge over 29–41 days of age

Abstract

Context Commercial ducks often experience high temperature in summer and nutritional strategies could help them cope under these conditions. Aims To assess the effects of water and feed supplements on the growth performance of Pekin ducks exposed to high ambient temperature. Methods Commercial Pekin ducks were supplemented with betaine in feed, betaine or vitamin C in water or had feed withdrawn for 9 h/day or provided with water alone, during Weeks 5 and 6 of age. Water was supplemented with an ‘in house’ electrolyte formulation and betaine in Week 6, only. The treatments were applied to two strains, the Cherry Valley (CV) and a commercial line selected from the CV strain for higher breast muscle yield identified as CVP2. On Days 29–41 of age, shed temperature was increased to 30.5°C for 9 h (08:30–17:30) and then returned to 22.7°C for the remainder of the day. Individual liveweights of ducks were measured on Day 28, Day 35 and Day 41 of age. Feed intake and water consumption were measured over Days 14–28, Days 29–35, and Days 36–41. On Day 41, one male and one female from each pen, were weighed, euthanised and the total breast muscle was removed and weighed. Key results In Week 5, all supplements supported a higher LWG, although this was limited to 4.3–6.3%, with no effects on feed intake or feed to gain ratio. In Week 6, these same supplements provided no benefit and, in fact, vitamin C had a negative effect (−4.7%) on LWG. In Week 6, the electrolyte + betaine improved LWG by 17.1%, with no effects on feed intake or feed to gain ratio. The supplements had no effects on breast muscle weight or yields. The CVP2 selected line had a substantially higher LWG, with nearly all this being due to the 15.8% higher gain seen in males, as LWG of females was similar for both strains. Conclusions Using electrolytes as a nutritional intervention can help Pekin ducks cope with adverse high temperature and should be evaluated under more extreme high-temperature challenges. Implications Water electrolyte supplementation can support Pekin duck performance under high-temperature challenge.