Livestock Research for Rural Development 32 (7) 2020 LRRD Search LRRD Misssion Guide for preparation of papers LRRD Newsletter

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Effect of duck-rice-Azolla integration on growth performance and carcass quality of native Malawian Muscovy ducks

Pilirani Chisembe, Liveness J Banda and Jonathan Tanganyika

Animal Science Department, Bunda College Campus, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), P O Box 219, Lilongwe. Malawi
piliranichisembe@gmail.com

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth performance, carcass and meat quality characteristics of the Muscovy duck under two different scavengig systems; duck-rice (DR) and duck-rice-Azolla (DRA). Forty-eight ducks were allocated to the two feeding/management regimes. Supplementation was starter ration from 1 to 2 weeks old and finisher from 3 to 12 weeks old. From 4 weeks old, the birds scavenged in the rice paddies from 7:00 to 15:00h.

Ducks that scavenged on rice paddies containing Azolla had greater body weight gain, consumed less supplementary feed and had better feed conversion than ducks scavenging on rice paddies that did not contain Azolla. Carcass quality and meat color were not affected by the feeding-management system.

Keywords: integrated systems, scavenging, water plants


Introduction

Integrated duck-rice production is a low-cost and one of the organic farming methods that makes use of the mutually beneficial relation between rice and ducks to increase rice productivity. Ducks are allowed to forage in the paddy 20 days after rice transplanting until the flowering stage about 2 months later (Edan et al 2006). Inclusion of Azolla, a nitrogen-fixating and non-conventional nutrient source aquatic fern has been reported to increase production performance of ducks. The feeding value of Azolla has been demonstrated in different poultry species such as chicken, ducks, and quail with promising results in performance. Acharya et al (2015) reported that inclusion of Azolla at 5% or 10% level in the diet improved body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Additional benefit of supplementing ducks with Azolla at different levels is that it reduces the cost of feed. Although integrated duck-rice farming has been practiced for generations in countries like Japan and other Asian countries (Cagauan et al 2004), it is not common in Malawi. Due to this, Malawi is failing to realise the benefits this integrated production can bring. A proper combination of duck, rice and Azolla improves the harvest of rice and production of ducks while minimizing inputs (Rutz 2008). The introduction of duck-rice-Azolla integrated feeding system can help in meeting the demand for animal protein consumption and minimize the inputs required in rice farming and also duck production and hence the current study.


Materials and methods

Experimental birds

Forty-eight, one-week old Muscovy ducklings were purchased from smallholder farmers and were transported to the Small Animal Unit Farm of the Animal Science Department, Bunda Campus, LUANAR, in Lilongwe where this study was conducted. The birds were brooded for a week during which period they were fed a starter diet with 20% CP. A 17% CP diet was provided from 2 weeks old until the end of the trialThe birds were given anti-stress packs upon arrival and vaccinated against Newcastle at 2 weeks using Lasota strain vaccine. At 3 and 4 weeks, the birds were vaccinated against gumboro (Infectious Bursal Disease [IBD]). The birds were then tagged and were allocated to the two experimental treatments; Duck-Rice (DR) and Duck-Rice-Azolla (DRA).

The ducks were introduced into the rice paddies 20 days after rice transplanting. They were 4 weeks old with an average weight of 0.31kg and were allowed to forage in the paddies for a period of 8 weeks from 7:00 to 15:00h. The stocking density was 8 ducklings per subplot of 19.6×4.6 m. They were vaccinated against Newcastle disease a second time at 5 weeks old.

Feeding

The duck-rice group foraged in rice-only plots; those on the DRA treatment had access to plots in which Azolla had been inoculated. After removal from the paddies, the ducks were given a ration (Tables 1 and 2) ad libitum as well as free access to drinking water.

Table 1. Basal diet composition (aor-dry basis)

Starter

Finisher

Maize meal

67.9

76.7

Soya bean meal

30.0

21.2

Premix#

0.2

0.2

Monocalcium phosphate

1.0

1.0

D-L Methionine

0.1

0.1

Agricultural Lime

0.8

0.8

Iodized salt

0.2

0.2

# 2.5 kg contained: Vit. A, 10,000,000 IU; Vit. D3, 3,000,000 IU; Vit. E, 15,000 IU; Vit. K, 1,000 mg; Thiamine (B1), 1,000 mg; Riboflavin (B2), 5,000 mg; Pyridoxine (B6) 1,000 mg; Vit. B12, 10,000 mcg;Niacin, 32,000 mg; Pantothenic Acid, 16,000 mg; Folic Acid, 1,000 mg; Biotin 100 mg; Choline chloride, 200,000 mg; Antioxidant, 6,000 mg; Manganese, 80,000 mg; Zinc, 70,000 mg; Iron, 30,000 mg; Copper, 10,000 mg; Iodine, 1,000 mg; Selenium, 100 mg; Cobalt, 500 mg; CP- crudeprotein



Table 2. Proximate composition (% in DM except for DM which is on air-dry basis) of feed ingredients

Ingredients

CP

DM

EE

CF

Ash

Soybean

37.4

89.4

13.1

6.29

5.03

Maize meal

9.65

90.6

7.21

7.10

2.98

Azolla

22.5

76.2

2.94

13.0

17.3

Starter

19.8

87.0

4.27

4.21

6.37

Finisher

17.0

88.4

5.04

5.24

5.31

CP – Crude protein; DM – Dry matter; EE – Ether extract; CF – Crude fibre

Housing

The 48 ducklings were raised in a simple deep litter housing system which was constructed at the side of the rice field. The floor was littered with straw for bedding.

Body weight

The ducks were weighed in the morning before feeding at the beginning of the experiment and each week for a period of 8 weeks. Feed was given every morning after collecting feed residues from the previous day.

Slaughter procedure

At the end of the experiment, the ducks were not fed but were given water for 12h to reduce crop content and fecal contamination when eviscerating the carcass. They were then re-weighed the following day to obtain the slaughter live weight. The ducks were eviscerated and weighed to obtain dressed carcass weights. The head, liver, intestines, and the gizzards were weighed separately. The carcasses were then chilled at 4 ºC for 24h, after which they were separated into the thigh, wings, back, breast and neck.

Meat colour

The colour of each sample was determined using a Chroma meter CR-410 which was calibrated using a standard white paper before measuring each sample of breast meat. This was done at 45 minutes, and at 3, 6, 9 and 24h post-mortem. A 2×2 cm cut was made from the breast muscle ( pectoralis major) of each sample where the Chroma meter was used to capture the Commission Internationale de l’eclairage (CIE) colour descriptors [lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*)], respectively.

Statistical analysis

The data were subjected to analysis of variance procedure using GenStat.


Results and discussion

Ducks in the Azolla-rice system had greater weight gains than those scavenging in rice paddies without Azolla (Table 3; Figure 1). This is similar to the results of Acharya et al (2015) and Nghia (2015) who reported that ducks that have Azolla in their diet perform better than those that do not have access to Azolla.

Table 3. Mean values for live weights, feed intake and feed conversion of ducks in the rice-Azolla and rice scavenging systems

Feeding systems

SEM

p

DR

DRA

Init wt, g

312

310

0.09

0.017

Final wt, g

1249b

1491a

0.08

0.002

Weigh gain, g/d

29.2b

36.3a

0.09

0.011

Feed intake, g/d

158.9a

112.7b

0.16

<0.001

FCR

2.38b

1.30a

0.07

0.001

ab Means with different superscripts within rows differ at p<0.05
FCR Feed intake/Live weight gain

Even though the intake of supplementary feed was lower in the duck-rice-Azolla system, the gain in weight was higher further contributing to the fact that the inclusion of Azolla to the diet of the birds is economically efficient in terms of the amount of supplementary feed supplied. This is in agreement with results of Becerra et al (1995) who reported an increase in daily gain of ducks with 15% replacement of soybean by Azolla. This is in line also with reports from Namra et al (2010), Seth et al (2013) and Rai et al (2012).

Figure 1. Changes in body weight of Muscovy ducks raised under duck-rice (DR) and duck-rice-Azolla (DRA) integrated feeding systems
Carcass characteristics

Ducks that scavenged in rice-Azolla paddies had higher weights of carcass and carcass components than those scavenging in rice paddies without Azolla (Table 4).

Table 4. Carcass characteristics of Muscovy ducks raised under duck-rice and duck-rice-Azolla integrated systems

Feeding system

SEM

p

DR

DRA

HCW

0.95b

1.36a

0.00

<0.001

CCW

0.83b

1.13a

0.04

<0.001

Neck

0.11

0.12

0.02

0.210

Breast

0.13b

0.19a

0.05

0.003

Wing

0.14b

0.20a

0.04

0.001

Back

0.22b

0.27a

0.03

0.003

Drumstick

0.24b

0.30a

0.03

0.003

Dressing %

75.9b

88.3a

1.01

0.02

ab Means with different superscripts in each row are significantly different at P<0.05; HCW- Hot carcass weight; CCW- Cold carcass weight; FGIT- Full gastro-intestinal tract

Meat colour

The meat colour characteristics were not affected by the feeding-management system (Table 5).

Table 5. Meat colour of Muscovy ducks raised under duck-rice-Azolla integrated feeding systems

Feeding system

SEM

p

DR

DRA

L* 45 min

56.4

55.0

6.78

0.288

L* 24hrs

40.9

38.9

6.46

0.148

a* 45 min

11.9

14.0

2.95

0.264

a* 24hrs

12.4

14.4

3.36

0.252

b* 45 min

10.9

10.1

2.08

0.426

b* 24hrs

14.4

13.0

3.37

0.304

L*: lightness;   a*: redness;   b*- yellowness


Conclusion


Acknowledgements

The authors thank Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA) for funding the Duck-Rice Project and all staff in Animal Science Department and Crops and Soil Sciences Department at LUANAR that contributed in one way or another in the implementation of the project.


References

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Becerra M, Preston T R and Ogle B 1995 Effect of replacing whole boiled soya beans with Azolla in the diets of growing ducks. Livestock Research Rural Development. 7 (3) Available At: http://lrrd.org/lrrd7/3/7.htm

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Edan M, Lüthi N B and Nghia M D 2006 Review of free-range duck farming systems in Northern Vietnam and assessment of their implication in the spreading of the Highly Pathogenic (H5N1) strain of Avian Influenza (HPAI). Available At: http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/213829/agal_duckfarming_vietnam_mar06.pdf [Accessed on 11/06/2017]

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Rai R B, Dharma K, Damodaran T, Ali H, Rai S, Singh B and Bhatt P 2012 Evaluation of Azolla (Azolla pinnata) as a poultry feed and its role in poverty alleviation among landless people in northern plains of India. Veterinary Practice. 13: 250-254.

Rutz D 2008 Adaptation and Evaluation of Integrated Rice and Duck Farming in the Hongdong Community of South Korea and the Poolmoo Schools: Knowledge Sharing and Learning in Sustainable Rice Cultivation Networks, Master Thesis.Department of Geography, University of Zurich. Available At: http://cfile25.uf.tistory.com/attach/190E2A104C4C0994106CCA . [Accessed on 12/06/2017]

Seth N, Pradhan C R, Mishra S K, Pati P K and Panda S K 2013 Performance of Vanaraja chicken fed fresh Azolla as a protein substitute. M.V.Sc. Thesis Submitted to Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar.


Received 4 March 2020; Accepted 3 June 2020; Published 1 July 2020

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