The Nutrition Value Of Palm Kernel Cake And Its Application In Laying Ducks

The nutritional value of PKC and its application in diet of laying ducks were evaluated in this thesis.The measurement of content of conventional nutrition component and amino acids were conducted for PKC.Metabolizable energy and dry matter digestibility of PKC were measured by laying ducks(No.1 Jiangnan).A feeding trial was conducted to study the effect of different supplementation level of PKC on laying performance and economic benefits in diet of laying ducks(No1.Jiangnan).1.The measurement of nutrient contents of PKCThe conventional nutrient component content,gross energy(GE)and amino acids levels were measured for seven PKC samples in this trial.The values of the moisture,crude protein,crude fiber,ether extract,ash,calcium,phosphate and gross energy were 16.33% ? 9.28% ?14.74%?4.07%?0.37%?0.63% and 4713 kcal/kg,respectively(dry matter-basis).The total AA content in PKC was 13.10%,the Glu content was the highest among all the AA,was 2.61%.Compared with requirement of ducks in growing period,the levels of Arg,Ile,Leu,Val,Met were relatively higher,and the levels of Lys were lower relatively,the Lys content was 0.49%.2.The metabolizable energy of PKC for ducksTwelve ducks aged 80 days(No.1 Jiangnan),6 male ducks and 6 female ducks,with the average body weight of(1.50±0.14)kg were assigned into two treatments(male group and female group),each treatment has 6 replicates with one duck per replicate.The AME,TME and dry matter digestibility were measured according to the Sibbald method.The AME and TME of PKC for duck were 5.71 MJ/kg and 6.18MJ/kg,respectively.The apparent digestibility and true digestibility of PKC dry matter were 26.92% and 29.61%,respectively.There were no significant differences of energy efficiency and dry matter digestibility of PKC between male ducks and female ducks(P >0.05).3.Effects of different levels of dietary PKC on laying performance of laying ducksA total of 400 laying ducks(No1.Jiangnan)aged 270 days with laying rate being about 80%and average body weight being 1.54 ± 0.15 kg per duck were randomly assigned five groups with 5 replicates per group and 16 ducks per replicate.They were control group(0% PKC),3%PKC group,6% PKC group,9% PKC group,and 12% PKC group.All ducks were experienced the 14 days preliminary trial period,3 days transitional period,and 4 weeks trial period.Compared with control group,the feed intake of 12% PKC group was significantly improved(P<0.05),and feed/egg ratio of all PKC groups were significantly increased(P<0.05).The laying rate,average egg weight,daily egg production and color score of egg yolk were similar among all the PKC group(P >0.05).With the increasing PKC level in ducks diet,the feed cost was lowered and cost of egg per kilogram was increased,and the relative economic benefits was decreased.Based on the results of production performance and economic benefits,PKC might be not recommended directly to be supplemented in diets of laying ducks.