Laying performance and egg quality of four strains of layer duck fed diets with various levels of energy

C. P. Seet and M. D. Azizah

Abstract

Four strains of laying duck, namely imported Siamese duck (ISD), locerl duck (LD), local Siamese duck (LSD) and imported Taiwan Tsaiya (ITT) were fed diets containing 10.0, 10.9 and 1 1.7 MJ ME/kg of feed from point of lay. The laying performance and egg quality of these ducks were compared. Analysis of the main strain effects indicated that the ISD and ITT were better layers and consumed less feed than the LSD and LD. Their eggs were' however, significantly smaller than that of LSD and LD strains. The LD laid the heaviest eggs, but the egg mass was significantly lower than those from ISD and LSD. Feed conversion efficiency was also poorer in this strain as it consumed significantly more feed than the others. The specific gravity of egg was highest in ITT (p <0.05 ). Its Haugh unit was, however, significantly higher than that of LD and the yolk index was higher (P <0.05) than that of ISD and comparable with the other two strains of duck. There were no significant effects of different energy levels on the laying performance of ducks regardless of the strains. Egg quality traits such as specific gravity and Haugh unit were slightly better when given diet containing low energy 10.0 MJ/kg) level. The interactions between strain and dietary energy indicated that the ITT, LSD and ISD responded positively to high energy diet (11.7 MJ/kg) for traits such as egg production, egg weight and Haugh unit respectively.The production rate of LD and the specific gravity of LSD and ITT were, however, higher with low energy (10.0 MJ/kg) diet. The ITT strain produced heavier eggs when fed diet with 10.9 MJ dictary energy.

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