DUCK REARING AND MANAGEMENT

BREEDS OF DUCK
1. Meat type breeds – Aylesbury,White pekin,Muscovy duck
2. Egg type breeds – Khaki campbell,Indian Runner
3. Ornamental breeds – Mandarin duck,Crested white,bantam duck
AYLESBURY
• Market weight reached at 8 weeks
• Deluxe table birds - light bone , increased
percentage of creamy white fesh
WHITE PEKIN
• Origin – China ,introduced into US
• Nervous – so treated gently
• Fair egg producers (160 eggs / year)
• Not good seters
MUSCOVY DUCK
• Origin – South America
• Many varietes – white variety most suited
for meat
• Excellent meat quality and taste ,but should be sold within 17 weeks age
• Low egg producers,but excellent setters
• Good for small general farms
• Female Muscovy male mallards = mule ducks (satsfactory meat yielders)

INDIAN RUNNER
• Origin – East Indies
• But egg producton capability is developed in Europe
• Second high egg producer next to Khaki Campbell
• Stand erect – nearly perpendicular – Penguin like posture
• 3 varietes – white , penciled ,fawn and white
• Reddish orange feet and shanks
KHAKI CAMPBELL
• Origin – England

• Fawn and white runner Rouen Mallard ducks

INDIGENOUS DUCK BREEDS

TAMILNADU DUCK BREEDS –1.Arni breed – Northern districts

2.Kollam breed(of kerala) –Southern districts

BREEDING MANAGEMENT

SELECTION OF BREEDERS

• At 6 – 7 weeks age , easy to diferentate sex by sound made Male – belch , Female – honk

• Drake feathers -in male are curled forward.Males are excellently colored ,heavier than female

• Sex rato – 1 drake : 8 ducks – meat breeds, 1 drake : 6 ducks- layer breeds

• Good weight , good conformaton , good feathering - selected

• Selecton of progeny from ducks having good producton abilites ( hatchability , egg producton ,
fertlity )

• Done by 1.Trapnestng 2.Family test or progeny test 3.Individual selecton

• Trapnesting - every evening female is placed inside a box or cage ,and removed morning carefully
after proper recording of egg producton
CARE OF BREEDERS

 Housing management is same as that of growers

• Males – 14 to 16 hrs light daily – 4 to 5 weeks before start of egg producton and during laying

• Females – 14 hrs light daily – 3 to 4 weeks before start of egg producton and during laying

• Light – 40 to 60 watts

• Ducks brought to full production afer months of age

• Ducks make their own nest boxes or it can be provided)– 1 nest box /3 ducks

• 12 “ wide ,12 “ height ,18 “ deep(30,30,45cm)

• Placed at foor level along side the wall

• If earlier – poor hatchability , small eggs

• After start within 5 to 6 weeks – 00 % laying or more

INCUBATION AND HATCHING

EGG COLLECTION AND SANITATION

• Most eggs laid before 0 am

• Let the fock out and collect soon to prevent soiling and crackling

• Wash the soiled eggs with 110 – 115 degree F or 40 degree celcius warm water

• Simply cleaned with muslin cloth

• Cold water causes shrinkage of egg contents ,that results in drawing the dirt , bacteria , mold ,
spores inside the egg

• Egg sanitiers like 0.3 % glutaraldehyde soln. or 2500ppm sodium hypochlorite soln. at 40
degree celcius can be used

EGG STORAGE

• Mishaped , large / small siied , cracked eggs – discarded

• Temp – 55 degree F , RH – 5 % ( physiological iero is 12 to 18 degree Celsius)

• Can be stored upto 2 weeks without reducton in hatchability

• If stored more than one week , turned daily

• Stored in such a way that air fow from cooling unit doesn’t falls on egg , which might lead to
excessive evaporation , enlargement of air cell – hatchability reduced

• Pre incubaton fumigaton before storage – 20 gm KMNO4 and 40 ml formalin (1X) for 100 cu.f

• Eggs has to be taken out of storage area and kept in the normal temperature for
 • 5 to 6 hrs to get warmed to room temperature ( sweating of eggs ) before incubaton

EGG INCUBATION

Types 1. Natural incubaton

2.Articial incubaton

1.NATURAL INCUBATION

• Muscovy ducks are excellent siters

• Broody hens can also be used

• 8 to 10 eggs / hen

• Dry ,clean nest box ( made of bamboo or wood illed with bedding material)

• Water and feed should be available very close , otherwise egg chilling during the tme of
searching feed or water

• Luke warm water can be sprinkled sometmes to maintain humidity or ducks are let to swim

• Candling at 7th day can be practced

2.ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION

CANDLING OF EGGS

• 7 to 10 days

 Live – dark spot near air cell with radiatng blood vessels

 Dead- spot stuck to the shell membrane ,blood vessels not clear , dark ring of blood

 Infertile – clear eggs. Dead , infertle , cracked eggs , ruptured yolks removed

• 25 days ( 32 days for Muscovy duck)

 Bills of ducklings with appreciable movement

EXTENSIVE SYSTEM OF BROODING

-Tents of plastc sheets are used as shelter

-Metabolic heat is the only source of heat and no articial heat is provided

INTENSIVE SYSYEM OF BROODING

• Brooding period

• Meat type – 2 to 3 weeks

• Egg type – 3 to 4 weeks

• Extended 1 or 2 weeks during winter

• water

• Water – automatc waterers or waterers placed near wire foor(available all the tme)

• Water level – sufcient to drink, not to dip themselves or automatc waterers

• Floor

• Liter – straw or wood shaving – 3cm to absorb moisture in droppings

• Wired foor – 4 inches above foor ( wire – ¾ inch),no dampness &manure

• Floor space – 0.5 sq ft /bird in wired foor , 1 sq ft / bird in liter (3 weeks

• Temperature

• 1st week – 85 to 00 degree F , succeeding weeks reduce 5 degree F

• If hovers used – brooder guards needed to maintain ducklings in comfort ione

• Hover space – 00 to 100 sq.cm / bird

• Swimming water

• At 5 weeks – but not compulsory

• Placed at the lower most end , opposite to the shed

• Disease sources from the water fowls must be taken care of

• Debeaking and claw trimming

• At 3 weeks-upper bill is trimmed about 1/4inches by cold cutng with scissors or hot
blade cutng with cautery

• In Muscovy ducks claws are very strong , hence trimmed – can be done as early as 10
days
 • Outside yards

• Ducklings are allowed to the outside yards,when they are feathered enough (2 to 4
weeks )

• Extreme winter – shelter upto 5 or 8 weeks

• Water

• Water – automatc waterers or waterers placed near wire foor(available all the tme)

• Water space– 5 to 7.5cm deep sufcient to drink, not to dip themselves or automatc
waterers

HOUSING MANAGEMENT

Ducks don’t require elaborate houses.Types of housing include backyard system ,intensive and
semi intensive system

1.INTENSIVE SYSTEM

 only pen
 Wired foor / deep liter / welfare cages
 Liter- paddy husk / saw dust / wood shavings – 5 to 8 cm – should be dry ,raked periodically
 Roof – gable or half round
 Floor space – growers – 3 sq.ft / bird , layers – 4 to 5 sq.ft / bird
 Partton inside pen – 60 to 00 cm height

2.SEMI INTENSIVE SYSTEM

 Both pen and run(1: 3).Run should slope away from houses for proper drainage
 Outdoor access during day and shelter at night tme
 Floor space in run – 10 to 15 sq.ft/bird , pen - 2.5 to 3 sq.ft/bird
 In run fences upto height of 60 to 00cm
 If no natural water ways are available , water channel ( 50cm wide,20cm deep) can be constructed
at the far end opposite to the night shelter.

3.BACKYARD SYSTEM

 10 to 15 ducks can be reared in household area.

 They are let out for foraging in morning and at night tmes bamboo basket is used as shelter.

FEEDING MANAGEMENT

Forms of feed – wet mash,dry mash,pellets or crumps

• Wet mash – prefered over dry mash as they can easily scoop the feed,improved
digeston.Precautous regarding growth of fungi

• Pellet feed – palatable,no segregaton of feed ingredients,easy to consume and less

• Pellet siie – starter- 3mm or 1/8 inches diameter

others-4.5mm or 3/16 inches diameter

FEEDING IN INTENSIVE SYSTEM

 Feeding space for linear feeders for wet mash – 10 to 12.5 cm / bird ,
dry mash or pellet - 5 to 7.5 cm/bird
 Water space – 12.5 to 15 cm deep to allow minimum immersion of their heads.Otherwise crusts
might appear around the eyes
 Special consideratons-
 Ducklings can’t tolerate sun after eatng
 If cold water given to over heated ducks leads to death
 Staggers – temporary shortage of drinking water leads to acute death. So always before feeding ,
water must be placed
 Niacin should be added to ducks – as they can’t convert tryptophan to niacin
 Susceptble to Afatoxin – tolerated upto 0.03 ppm ( 0.2 ppm in chicken),so mouldy grains should be
avoided
FEEDING IN FREE RANGE OR EXTENSIVE OR BACKYARD SYSTEM

• Ducklings are fed boiled rice,broken rice and earthworms at early stage ,after 1 or 2 weeks allowed
to scavenge with adult ducks

• Ducks are voracious eaters and foragers

• After collectng eggs in the morning , let out for foraging

• Major feed for them is frogs , snails and ishes( in back waters if present ),green tender leaves .

• House hold wastes are fed supplementarily

COMMON DISEASES OF DUCKS

1. Botulism/limber neck

 Clostridium botulinum – grows in decaying plant and animal maters – produce toxins

 Afects young and adult stock- lose control of neck muscles , drown in swimming water

 Remove dead birds and rotng vegetaton

2. Necrotc enterits

 Clostridium perfringens – common in breeding stock

 Breeder house must be free of wet liter and mud holes

3. Brooder pneumonia

 Fungus in liter causes this disease in ducklings

 Brooder house must be dry

4. Duck viral enterits (duck plague)

 Herpes virus – watery greenish yellow diarrhoea,nasal discharge,swollen protruding penis in male
and producton drop in female,frequently ends in death.

 PM lesion- generaliied hemorrhage in body organs

 Strict sanitaton,reduced access to swimming water to reduce contact with water fowls

 Vaccinaton of female breeding stock

5. New duck disease (Infectous serosits)

• Moraxella anatpestfer- most serious disease afectng ducklings

• Symptoms resemble that of CRD in chicken,sneeiing and loss of balance

• Death is due to water starvaton than the primary infecton

• Sulfa drugs are efectve

• Ingeston of toxin produced by Aspergillus favus from infected feed ingredients

• Hot and humid conditons favour the toxin producton

• All ages susceptble

• Lameness , purple discoloraton of feet and legs ,falling of feathers,ataxia followed by convulsion
and death- 05 to 08% mortality within 48 hrs

7.Fowl cholera/pasteurellosis

• Caused by Pasteurella multocida

• High mortality in adult and young birds

• Diarhhoea with mucoid droppings, light greenish diarhhoea,mucus discharge from mouth

• Transmited by fies , rodents and wild birds

• Strict sanitaton,disposal of dead birds,vaccinaton(8 th week , 16th week and 6 months once)