Egg-laying Ducks Research Articles

Review on the Performances of Cihateup Duck (Anas platyrhynchos Javanica) as Genetic Resource of Local Poultry in Indonesia

Cihateup duck is one of the local Indonesian poultry genetic resources originated from West Java. These ducks are raised in Tasikmalaya and its surrounding area. Cihateup duck raised as layer or meat type duck is potential to provide business opportunities for people in West Java. For future development of Cihateup duck, some important potential characteristics of Cihateup ducks are required. This paper describes the phenotype performance, rearing management of Cihateup ducks and its genetic relationship with other ducks. Cihateup ducks have longer neck, wing, femur and tibia compared with other Indonesian ducks. Egg production (200 egg/head/year) is lower than Alabio and Mojosari ducks. The quality of meat (taste and flavour) is less preferred by consumers because of its odor. Genetic relationship between Cihateup duck with local ducks in Java is closer than Alabio ducks from South Kalimantan. Key words: Cihateup duck, performance, genetic resource

Estimation of dietary selenium requirement for Chinese egg-laying ducks

The purpose of this study was to estimate the selenium (Se) requirement of egg-laying ducks based on daily egg production and the selenoprotein glutathione peroxidase (Gpx). Five-hundred and forty laying ducks were divided into six treatments, each containing six replicates of 15 ducks. The birds were caged individually and received a Se-deficient basal diet (0.04 mg/kg) or diets supplemented with 0.08, 0.16, 0.24, 0.32, 0.40 mg/kg Se (as sodium selenite) for 6 months. The experiment consisted of two periods: an early-laying period of 2 months and the peak-laying period of 4 months. Egg production and feed intake were recorded daily. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were drawn for determination of Gpx activity in plasma (Gpx3) and in erythrocytes (Gpx1). Hepatic Gpx1 activity and relative expression of Gpx1 mRNA were also determined. Eggs (n = 6) were sampled for quality determination and Se content at the end of the experiment. The activities of plasma Gpx3, erythrocyte Gpx1 and liver Gpx1 increased in a quadratic manner (P < 0.001) with increasing supplemental Se. The mRNA abundance of hepatic Gpx1 increased linearly (P < 0.001) with dietary Se supplementation. Egg shell thickness was significantly reduced in the ducks fed 0.44 mg Se/kg (P < 0.05), indicating that higher dietary Se tends to compromise egg shell quality. Yolk and albumen contents of Se increased linearly (P < 0.0001) with dietary Se supplementation. Using quadratic broken line models, the Se requirement for daily egg production was 0.18 mg/kg for early-laying ducks and 0.24 mg/kg for peak-laying ducks; for optimal function of Gpx (peak-laying ducks), it was 0.37 mg Se/kg.

Effects the combinations of light color and intensity of light to age at first laying and production egg of Alabio Laying ducks

Effects the combinations of light color and intensity of light to age at first laying and production egg of Alabio Laying ducks

Effects the combinations of light color and intensity of light to age at first laying and production egg of Alabio Laying ducks

The purpose of the study to see the effect of the combination of light color and intensity of light on the age at first laying, hen day egg production and hen house production Alabio ducks from South Kalimantan. This study used a completely randomized design factorial 4 x 3 with 3 replications. There are 4 levels of light color consists of yellow color (W1), red (W2), blue (W3) and green (W4), while there are 3 levels of light intensity consists of 5 lux (T1), 10 lux (T2) and 15 lux (T3), so there are 12 combinations of treatments. Data were analyzed for variance (ANOVA) and if there is a treatment effect followed by Duncan's test (DMRT). The results showed the combinations of light color and intensity of light was significant effect on accelerating the age at first laying ducks (p<0.05), in which the color combination of light blue with a light intensity of 10 lux (W3T2) is the best combination that can produce Alabio ducks for the first spawn faster at the age of 159 ± 1.9 days. The combination of light colors and light intensity significantly affected hen day egg production (p<0.05), in which the color combination of light blue color with a light intensity of 10 lux (W3T2) generates highest Alabio duck egg production by 85 ± 0.7%, while the hen house egg production,the combination of light colors and light intensity significantly affected hen house egg production (p<0.05), in which the color combination of light blue with a light intensity of 10 lux (W3T2) generates highest egg production by 83 ± 1.0%.

ANALISIS BIAYA RANSUM PENGGUNAAN SERBUK GERGAJI HASIL REKAYASA SEBAGAI PENGANTI SEBAGIAN RANSUM ITIK PETELUR DI DESA TOUNELET KECAMATAN KAKAS KABUPATEN MINAHASA

ABSTRACT ANALYSIS OF FEED COST USING SAWDUST ENGINEERING AS PART IN RATION OF LAYER DUCK AT TOUNELET VILLAGE, KAKAS DISTRICT, MINAHASA REGENCY. Duck was one animal species developed by communities as their source of income at Tounelet village. Animal feed cost was the main problem due to limitation of feed ingredient materials. Sawdust was saw-mill by-product containing high lignin. Lignin could be reduced by engineering method. The objective of this study was to evaluate feed cost using sawdust engineering as part in ration of layer duck at Tounelet village, Kakas district of Minahasa regency. Total oh sixty layer duck was used in this study fed ration containing part of sawdust engineering. Primer and secunder data were collected during two months. Results showed that the highest feed cost of layer duck was found in ration without sawdust engineering. The lowest feed cost was found in ration consisted of 40 percents based ration and 60 percents parts of sawdust engineering. Therefore, it can be concluded that utilization of parts of sawdust engineering was more efficient in layer duck ration. Key words: ration, sawdust engineering, layer duck

Identification and molecular characterization of a novel flavivirus isolated from geese in China

Since April 2010, a novel contagious disease in ducks and geese, with egg drop, feed uptake decline and neurological signs, caused by a newly emerged virus has spread around Eastern China. Dissection conducted on the dead geese demonstrated hemorrhage in brain, lung, liver, heart, ovary, and enlarged and necrotic spleen. A new virus, named Goose/Jiangsu/804/2010 (JS804) virus, was isolated in Jiangsu area from geese. Then the virus was re-isolated from the affected geese and replicated well in duck embryo fibroblasts and Vero cells, causing the cytopathic effect. The virus was identified as an enveloped positive stranded RNA virus with a size of approximately 40–60nm in diameter. The full-length genome of this isolated virus was determined, showing that it is closely related to Tembusu virus (a mosquito-borne Ntaya group flavivirus) than other members of the Flaviviridae based on the data of phylogenetic analyses. Our systematic studies fulfill Koch’s postulates precisely, and therefore, the causative agent of geese occurring in Eastern China is a new flavivirus.This is the first report that flavivirus infects not only egg-laying and breeder ducks but also geese. The findings extend our understanding of how the virus spreads and causes disease.

Identification and genomic analysis of two duck-origin Tembusu virus strains in southern China

Egg-laying duck flocks in Guangdong province, southern China, have been suffering a widely spreading infectious disease with abrupt egg drops and death since the winter of 2010. However, the causative pathogen was not known. We obtained two independent virus isolates named FS and JM from the diseased layer duck flocks and identified them as duck-origin Tembusu virus by PCR detection, sequencing the entire length of the open reading frames (ORFs). The two isolates FS and JM shared high sequence similarity to the isolates of duck-origin Tembusu virus that was first emerged in eastern China in April 2010. Blast analysis shows that the whole ORF sequences of FS and JM have the highest similarity (>99 %) to BYD-1(the first reported duck-origin Tembusu virus) and JS804 (the first reported goose-origin Tembusu virus), indicating that the full-length genomes were highly conserved in waterfowl-origin Tembusu viruses. The present study suggests that duck-origin Tembusu viruses have spread fast from eastern China to southern China, causing widely spreading infections. The high conservation of duck-origin Tembusu virus strains provides the genomic basis for choosing the strains for vaccine preparation for better protection against this new virus infection.

Identification and molecular characterization of a novel flavivirus isolated from Pekin ducklings in China

A flavivirus-associated disease of egg-laying ducks was observed in eastern China in 2010, and a novel mosquito-borne flavivirus, Tembusu virus (TMUV), was isolated (Cao et al., 2011). Following up on the earlier study, a virus similar to TMUV was isolated recently from ducklings and characterized. We report that (1) the recently isolated virus, TMUV ZJ-6, replicated in vertebrate cells (DF-1, BHK-21) as well as in mosquito cells (C6/36) and caused cytopathic effect (CPE) in the cell lines tested; (2) extracellular viral particles examined by electron microscopy were approximately 45nm in diameter and enveloped; (3) the full-length genome of the virus was determined, showing that the TMUV ZJ-6 is more closely related to the Ntaya group of viruses than other members of the Flaviviridae based on the data of phylogenetic analyses. Most importantly, the disease of ducklings was reproducible after administration of plaque-purified virus by intracerebral (i.c.), subcutaneous (s.c.) or intranasal (i.n.) inoculation. This is the first report that TMUV infects not only egg-laying ducks but also 3–21 days-old ducklings. The findings extend our understanding of how the virus spreads and causes disease.

Prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella from the eggs of commercial samples

Objectives: In India egg is being promoted as complete food by the National Egg Co-cordination Committee (NECC) and being included in the free mid-day meal provided to school student s in rural areas. The objective of the present study is to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella on the shell and in the contents of eggs of commercial samples from the retail outlets of Kottayam, South India. Materials and Methods: Six hundred samples of eggs (150 each from commercial layer hens, non-commercial layer hens, duck and Japanese quail) were analysed for the prevalence of Salmonella as per United States Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological analytical manual and the confirmed and serotyped strains were analysed for antibiotic resistance by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Results: Five different serotypes such as S.weltevreden, S.worthington, S.dublin, S.bareilly and S.typhimurium were encountered in the eggs of commercial layer hens, while backyard raised layen hen eggs had only S.bareilly and S.dublin. Japanese quail eggs showed prevalence of S.worthington, S.typhimurium and S.bareilly. S.enteritidis was encountered only in the duck eggs where the only other serotype was S.infantis. Conclusion: S.enteritidis prevalence was relatively less when compared to reports from other countries. More than 50% of duck eggs had Salmonella contamination in the contents which pose threat to unwary consumers. Resistance to tetracycline, oxytetracycline and nalidixic acid were relatively high among Salmonella isolates from eggs of commercial layer hens. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2011; 1(3):93-100

Tembusu Virus in Ducks, China

In China in 2010, a disease outbreak in egg-laying ducks was associated with a flavivirus. The virus was isolated and partially sequenced. The isolate exhibited 87%–91% identity with strains of Tembusu virus, a mosquito-borne flavivirus of the Ntaya virus group. These findings demonstrate emergence of Tembusu virus in ducks.

Paternity assessment: application on estimation of breeding value in body-weight at first egg trait of egg-laying duck (Anas platyrhynchos)

Paternity index was analyzed using five microsatellite loci among Chinese egg-laying ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). Based on the paternity relationship that was identified by paternity index analysis, the estimated breeding value (EBV) was calculated using BLUP (best linear unbiased predictor) method. Body weight at first egg (BWF) is the only considered trait in this study. In total, 12 sires, 31 dams and 77 daughters were involved in the EBV calculation. The results demonstrated that five microsatellite loci's polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.795 in locus AY493338 to 0.957 in locus AY493264 with average 0.899; the parent-offspring relationships were built by these microsatellites' genotype, 12 families of half sibling and 2 families of full sibling were involved, and the relationship error is smaller than 10(-7). The EBV results suggest that the average EBV was significantly higher in females (average EBV is 10.234 and 0.1045 for mother and daughter, respectively) than males (average EBV is just -26.44). The EBV results on BWF were in good agreement with the principle of GH (growth hormone) expression in poultry. These results show that paternity analyses of Chinese egg-laying ducks were basically resolved using the five microsatellite loci selected. The paternity relationships can apply in Chinese egg-laying duck breeding to quicken the improvement of genetic progress.

Generics: Cognition and Acquisition

`Ducks lay eggs' is a true sentence, and `ducks are female' is a false one. Similarly, `mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus' is obviously true, whereas `mosquitoes don't carry the West Nile virus' is patently false. This is so despite the egg-laying ducks' being a subset of the female ones and despite the number of mosquitoes that don't carry the virus being ninety-nine times the number that do. Puzzling facts such as these have made generic sentences defy adequate semantic treatment. However complex the truth conditions of generics appear to be, though, young children grasp generics more quickly and readily than seemingly simpler quantifiers such as `all' and `some'.I present an account of generics that not only illuminates the strange truth conditions of generics, but also explains how young children find them so comparatively easy to acquire. I then argue that generics give voice to our most cognitively primitive generalizations and that this hypothesis accounts for a variety of facts ranging from acquisition patterns to cross-linguistic data concerning the phonological articulation of operators. I go on to develop an account of the nature of these cognitively fundamental generalizations and argue that this account explains the strange truth-conditional behavior of generics.

Cloning and expression of Tsaiya duck liver fatty acid binding protein

Liver basic fatty acid (FA)-binding protein (Lb-FABP) cDNA was cloned from the livers of laying Tsaiya ducks and used to generate probes for quantification of the Lb-FABP mRNA in Tsaiya ducks. The full-length Lb-FABP cDNA of the Tsaiya duck was highly homologous with that of the mallard (99%), chicken (88%), and iguana (73%). The amino acid sequence was also highly homologous to Lb-FABP found in birds and reptiles, indicating a similar function of the Tsaiya duck Lb-FABP to those species. The calculated molecular weight for the cloned duck Lb-FABP was 14,043g/mol. The Lb-FABP was highly expressed in the liver of laying Tsaiya ducks and not detectable in heart, ovary, intestine, or adipose tissues. The expression of Tsaiya duck Lb-FABP in the skeletal muscle was also detected, and the sequence was confirmed. The greater expression of the hepatic Lb-FABP in the egg-laying Tsaiya ducks than the prelaying ducks paralleled the higher FA use by the laying ducks. These results suggest that hepatic Lb-FABP may be needed for egg production when FA metabolism is high for the ducks. Feeding laying Tsaiya ducks with diets enriched with 2% docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) oil for 2 wk significantly increased hepatic DHA content compared with in ducks fed a 2% butter basal diet. There was no effect of dietary DHA enrichment on the expression of Lb-FABP in the liver of Tsaiya ducks. The results suggest that even though the Lb-FABP may be involved in hepatic FA metabolism, the effect of individual FA on liver Lb-FABP in laying Tsaiya ducks needs to be further studied.

Dietary methionine requirement of the Chinese egg-laying duck

1. The dietary methionine requirement of egg-laying ducks was assessed by feeding diets supplemented with graded levels of DL-methionine (0, 4, 8, 12, 16 g/kg dietary protein) for 8 weeks. The basal diet contained 175 g protein and 2·6 g methionine per kg feed (or 14·9 g/kg protein) and an estimated ME of 11·5 MJ/kg. 2. A total of 800 Shaoxin laying ducks (420 d old) were randomly divided into 5 groups of 160 each and fed in 4 separate pens. 3. Dietary supplementation of methionine significantly increased egg production and feed conversion efficiency. 4. Dietary methionine requirement for optimum egg production was estimated to be 25·7 g/kg of dietary protein or 4·5 g/kg of the diet or 380 mg/bird-d. 5. Methionine supplementation increased the methionine level in plasma, and the free glutamic acid and aspartic acid concentrations in plasma were quadratically related to dietary methionine levels. Increasing dietary methionine had little effect on egg quality characteristics.

The distribution of calmodulin in the mucosa of the avian oviduct and the effect of P- P'-DDE on some of its metabolic parameters

1. Since calmodulin or some closely related peptide may activate the Ca 2+-transporting system in the avian eggshell gland, the calmodulin content in different parts of the oviduct mucosa was determined in egg-laying birds killed at 1600 hr. 2. The highest content was noted in the shell gland mucosa both in egg-laying ducks and hens. The calmodulin content was high even in the isthmus part, where the shell formation begins. 3. Treatment of ducks (Indian runner variety) with DDE (40 ppm for 45 days) did not influence the calmodulin content of the shell gland, however. 4. The content of the protein avidin, the formation of which is stimulated by progesterone, was increased significantly in the oviduct. The carbanhydrase activity did not change significantly. 5. The dry weight of the shell gland was reduced by DDE administration in ducks but not in domestic fowls. 6. These and earlier observations indicate that DDE can act as an partial agonist which is able both to stimulate and to inhibit reactions in the shell gland and other parts of the oviduct. 7. In vivo DDE in the dose used probably acted on higher centres, influencing the activity of the shell gland and probably other parts of the oviduct. 8. A regulation centre which influences several sexual functions is the hypothalamic-hypophyseal region, but the endocrine function of the ovary has also been considered.

The effects of DDE, PCB and chlordane on the binding of progesterone to its cytoplasmic receptor in the eggshell gland mucosa of birds and the endometrium of mammalian uterus

1. The specific binding of progesterone to its cytoplasmic receptor in the mucosa of the shell gland from egg-laying ducks, domestic fowls and from the endometrium of the rabbit uterus was compared. The effect of DDE, PCBs and chlordane added in vitro was also studied. 2. The K D value for progesterone with regard to its receptor was about four times lower in the domestic fowl and the rabbit than in the duck. 3. The chlorinated hydrocarbons decreased the binding of progesterone to its receptor. Their potency was higher in the duck than in the domestic fowl. In rabbit uterine mucosa their effects were similar to those observed in the duck. 4. DDE is an inhibitor of calmodulin: other calmodulin inhibitors as calmidazolium and trifluoperazin also reduced the binding of progesterone in similar concentrations. It is suggested that DDE reduced the progesterone binding by inhibiting calmodulin.

産卵家禽血清の血清学的研究

SASAKI noted that blood serum of the layinghen could be clearly distinguished by precipi-tin reaction from that of the cock, non-layinghen or pullet, and that the specific reactionfor egg-laying hens might be due to lipoids in the blood, supposivg from the fact that the amount of lipoid phosphorus and cholesterin in the blood is very much higher in laying female than in male or non-laying female fowls.Our experiments have been carried on to confirm the facts mentioned above, and moreover, to examine whether it was also the case in the sera of other egg-laying fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys. The results obtained are summarized as follows:1) The serological difference between the sera of egg-laying and non-laying hens was confirmed by our experiments as was reported by SASAKI.2) There were found individual differences in the amount of specific substances in the sera of egg-laying hens.3) The serological differences between sera or egg-laying and non-laying hens are also recognized in the sera of ducks, geese and turkeys.4) There are two sorts of common antigens in the sera of those egg-laying fowls; that is, one, common to all the fowls, and the other not recognized in all of them. The former is named here as 'e' antigen; and in the latter following antigens are found: 'h' antigen……common to the sera of hens and turkeys. 'd' antigen……common to the sera of ducks and geese. 't2' antigen……common to the sera of ducks geese and turkeys. Besides the common antigens, specific 't1' antigen can be demonstrated in the serum of turkeys.5) From analysis of these common antigens, the antigenic structures of egg-laying fowls are supposed as follows:Sera of egg-laying hens=eh Sera of egg-laying ducks=edt2 Sera of egg-laying geese=edt2 Sera of egg-laying turkeys=edt2t16) These partial antigens differ qualitatively from one another.

The Resistance of Egg-Laying Ducks to Infection by the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium lophurae

Ducks have been generally considered to be highly susceptible, regardless of age and sex, to infection by the erythrocytic forms of Plasmodium lophurae (Wolfson, 1940; Hewitt, 1942). It was therefore surprising to find in 1942 several adult ducks which failed to develop any appreciable infection in spite of the fact that they had been inoculated intravenously with a large dose of heavily parasitized blood from ducklings. In the four resistant individuals which were first observed the parasites persisted in low numbers (50 to 200 per 10,000 red blood cells) for 3 weeks after inoculation. In smears made approximately every third day during this period, parasites of abnormal appearance became noticeable 3 to 10 days after inoculation and thereafter formed a progressively larger proportion of the small number of parasites present. Very few parasites with over two nuclei were ever seen, the very young trophozoites soon disappeared, and one to two nucleate trophozoites of normal appearance became less and less abundant. The abnormal forms were large and of two types, which may briefly be called Dark and Light. The Dark forms showed after staining with Giemsa a dense blue cytoplasm, quite unlike the delicate blue usually seen in normal parasites. They had a large deeppink nuclear mass. The Light forms showed a diffuse pale pinkish stain, suggesting a cell about to disintegrate. Although these two forms might at first be mistaken for female and male gametocytes, their pigment granules were small rather than coarse, as they are in the gametocytes of P. lophurae. The impression given by the blood smears was that in these 4 ducks the multiplication of the parasites was strongly inhibited. It soon became apparent that age was not the important factor, for several ducks even older than the 4 resistant ones were found to be fully susceptible. The observations were interrupted by the author's service in the Army. They were resumed in 1946 using a different strain of P. lophurae (obtained through the kindness of Dr. A. P. Richardson). With this strain an exact repetition of the earlier results has not been obtained, since the ducks used proved to be either highly susceptible or so resistant that they soon eliminated the infection, so that very few of the abnormal parasites were seen. It has, however, been possible to correlate resistance with egg-laying activity.