| China is known for its significant production and consumption of laying ducks.However,traditional methods of raising laying ducks rely heavily on water resources and are concentrated in specific regions.In recent years,cage rearing of laying ducks has emerged as a new breeding technique with wide-ranging applications and promising prospects for development.Duck cages can be categorized as either step-cages or stackcages.Step-cage technology has reached a relatively mature stage,whereas stack-cage rearing is still in its early stages.To promote the adoption and popularization of stack-cage rearing,this experiment aims to measure the laying performance and egg quality of laying ducks under different feeding densities and cage sizes.The experiment was conducted at the Jiangxi Tianyun Agricultural Development Co.LTD.Within the same enclosure,three types of five-layer stack duck cages were present:single-side large cages,double-side large cages,and double-side small cages.The doubleside large cages are created by adding a screen in the middle of the single-side large cages,resulting in an area that is half the size of the single-side large cages.The double-side small cages(A)and(B)are cages of the same dimensions.The effective bottom area of a single large cage measures length × width(75 × 130)cm,while that of a double small cage measures length × width(43 × 37)cm.For both unilateral and bilateral large cages,three stocking densities were established(unilateral large cages: 8-cage-group,10-cage-group,12-cage-group;two-sided large cages: 4-cage-group,5-cage-group,6-cage-group).The two-sided small cages housed 2 ducks each.The cage area per duck in each cage group was calculated as follows: 1218.75 cm2 in 4-cage-group and 8-cage-group,975 cm2 in 5-cagegroup and 10-cage-group,812.5 cm2 in 6-cage-group and 12-cage-group,and 795.5 cm2 in2-cage-group.(Since the cage area of the 2-cage group closely resembled that of the 12-cage group and the 6-cage group,these three groups were considered to have the same stocking density for analysis).A total of 7,020 female Shanma ducks,aged 110 days,were raised in three differentsized cages: single-side large cage,double-side large cage,and double-side small cage(A and B).Each cage was treated as one replicate,with a total of 30 replicates for the 8-cagegroup,60 replicates for the 10-cage-group,60 replicates for the 12-cage-group,90 replicates for the 4-cage-group,180 replicates for the 5-cage-group,180 replicates for the6-cage-group,and 1,560 replicates for the 2-cage-group.The number of eggs laid per cage was recorded daily from 160 to 262 days of age,along with measurements of egg weight and quality for selected cage groups and specific days.1.Impact of density on laying performance and egg quality of stack caged Shanma ducks.In the single-side large cages,the weekly laying rate decreased as stocking density increased.A significant difference in the weekly laying rate was observed between the 8-cage-group and the 10-cage-group during the 11 th to 14 th week(P < 0.01).Furthermore,there were significant differences in the weekly laying rate between the 8-cage-group and the 12-cage-group(P < 0.01),except for the third to fifth week(P > 0.05).Comparing the10-cage-group and the 12-cage-group,the weekly laying rate differed significantly in the first,second,and seventh to fourteenth weeks(P < 0.01).However,no significant differences were found in egg weight and egg quality among the 8-cage-group,10-cagegroup,and 12-cage-group(P > 0.05).These results differ from those observed in double-side large cage.Only during the first to third week of data recording,the weekly laying rate of the 4-cage group was significantly higher than that of the 5-cage-group and the 6-cage-group(P < 0.01).The weekly laying rate of the 5-cage-group was significantly higher than that of the 6-cagegroup in the second week alone(P < 0.01),while no significant difference was observed among the three groups in other weeks.Although significant differences in egg weight were found at various days of age,there was no clear pattern.Similarly,there were no significant differences in egg quality among the 4-cage-group,5-cage-group,and 6-cagegroup(P > 0.05).2.The size of the cage has an impact on the laying performance and egg quality of stack-caged Shanma ducks.When the cage area was 1218.75 cm2 per cage,there was no significant difference in the weekly laying rate between groups with 4-cage-group and 8-cage-group(P > 0.05).However,when the cage area was reduced to 975 cm2 per cage,the weekly laying rate of the 10-cage-group was significantly higher than that of the 5-cage-group in the first and second weeks(P < 0.01).In the third week,the 10-cage-group also had a significantly higher laying rate than the 5-cage-group(P < 0.05).Surprisingly,in the ninth week,the 5-cage-group had a significantly higher laying rate than the 10-cage-group(P < 0.05).From the 10 th week to the 14 th week,the weekly laying rate was consistently higher for the 5-cage-group compared to the 10-cage-group(P < 0.01).On the other hand,when the cage area was 795.5 cm2 per cage,there was no significant difference in the laying rate between two different cage groups(A and B)each week(P > 0.05).Interestingly,the laying rate of the 2-cage-group performed exceptionally well when compared to the 6-cage-group and12-cage-group.Except for the fourth week,the laying rate of the 2-cage-group was significantly higher than that of the 6-cage-group and 12-cage-group(P < 0.01).Moving on to egg weight,when the cage area was 1218.75 cm2 per cage,the 4-cage-group had significantly higher egg weight than the 8-cage-group at 195 days of age(P < 0.05).Similarly,when the cage area was 975 cm2 per cage,the 5-cage-group had significantly higher egg weight than the 10-cage-group at 195 and 225 days of age(P < 0.01).Additionally,at 166 days of age,the 2-cage-group(A)had significantly higher egg weight than the 6-cage-group and 12-cage-group(P < 0.01).However,there were no significant differences in egg quality indexes among all groups(P > 0.05).In conclusion,the stocking density has a certain impact on the laying performance of Shanma ducks,with the laying rate decreasing as the stocking density increases.When the stocking density is low,cage size does not significantly affect the laying rate.On the other hand,when the stocking density is high,the weekly laying rate of smaller cages on double sides remains stable and significantly higher than that of larger cages on one side or double sides.Therefore,in practical applications,using double-side-cages in a stack-cage system proves to be beneficial for achieving better egg production performance. |
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