EFFECT OF IN-OVO ADMINISTRATION WITH TWO LEVELS OF AMINO ACIDS MIXTURE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MUSCOVY DUCKS

Abstract

Nutrient administration in-ovo could be considered as an alternative method to improve hatchability and duckling weight followed by better economic performance. On the 12th day of incubation, fertile duck eggs (n= 500) were distributed into 5 groups, each of 100. These were: un-injected control; 0.50 ml distilled water; 0.50 ml amino acids (AA) mixture; 0.75 ml distilled water; and 0.75 ml amino acids mixture. In-ovo injection of 0.50 ml but not 0.75 ml of AA mixture resulted in higher hatchability percentage than un-injected control; however this was not statistically confirmed. In-ovo injection of either 0.50 or 0.75 ml of AA mixture resulted in significantly (P < 0.05) higher body weight at hatch, marketing weight for males not for females, and higher feed intake than the un-injected control. There was no significant difference (P < 0.05) in feed conversion ratio between in-ovo amino acids ducks and un-injected control during the whole experimental periods. Liver weight as a percentage of body weight was higher (P < 0.05) in the in-ovo amino acids injected groups than un-injected control. Lymphoid organs of 0.50 AA-injected male group and 0.75 ml AA-injected female group were significantly (P < 0.05) heavier than the un-injected control. Antibodies titers did not differ (P < 0.05) between in-ovo amino acids injected groups and un-injected control. It is concluded that in-ovo injection of amino acids mixture may improve and accelerate growth and post-hatch performance of Muscovy ducks.