Study On Effect Of Different Feeding Methods On Cherry Valley Duck Performance And Other Related Indicators

Experiments were conducted to study the influence of different feeding methods onCherry Valley duck performance, nutrients level in excretion and carcass traits.1807-dayCherry Valley ducks with an average initial body weight of (255.58±9.27) g were allocatedto group1(pond group), group2(water net bed group), group3(net bed over dry landgroup) and group4(dry land group) on average. Ducks were weighted in the morning onday7,28and49before feeding to calculate the feed to weight ratio and economic benefits,excretion were collected on day28,49and56to determine the content of total nitrogen,total phosphorus, calcium and zinc.5ducks were slaughtered on day56from eachtreatment to measure carcass traits.(1) Performance: ducks raised in different groups had no significant difference inbody weight at day28and49respectively, ducks raised in group3had the highest bodyweight (1959.80±260.66g) and had a7.86percent higher in body weight than ducks raisedin group1, ducks in group3had the highest body weight and had a2.28percent higherthan ducks in group1in body weight.(2) Economic benefits: data showed that ducks raised in group3and4had a bettereconomic benefits than ducks raised in group1and2, group4had the highest economy and eachduck had1.32yuan extra money than that in group2with an increase of111percent.(3) Nutrient content in excretion: phosphorus content in different groups ranked asfollow: group2> group3> group4> group1at day28and group4> group2> group3> group1at day56. There was no significant difference in copper level at day28butcopper content at day56ranked as group4> group2> group1> group3. excretion fromgroup2and3had higher zinc level than that from group1and4at day28and had a rankof group2> group3> group4> group1, at day56the zinc content of excretion fromgroup3and4was higher than that from group1and2and had the following ranks, group3> group4> group2> group1.(4) Carcass traits: carcass traits and feather percent was mainly affected by energymetabolism and growth development. A better dressing percentage, semi-eviscerated rateand eviscerated rate was obtained in group1and2from day7to56, and a higher featherweight and feather percentage was achieved in group2and3.