A Study On The Suitable Level Of Corn Gluten Feed In The Diet Of Nonghua Meat Ducks

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary corn gluten feed levels on growth performance,slaughter performance,organ growth and breast meat quality in Nonghua meat duck.The study included two experiments.Experiment 1: Effects of dietary corn gluten feed levels on growth performance and organ growth in Nonghua meat duck.A total of 540 one-day-old Nonghua meat ducks were randomly allocated to 5 treatment groups,including 0,5 %,10 %,15 % or 20 % corn gluten feed,with 6 replicates containing 18 ducks each replicate.The experiment included three phases: 1-14 d,15-35 d,36-56 d.The results showed that:1)Body weight(BW,d 14,35 and 56),body weight gain(BWG,d 1-14,d 1-35,d 36-56 and d 1-56)and feed intake(FI,d 1-14)were decreased(P<0.05)in a linear manner when increased dietary corn gluten feed levels,while the feed to gain ratio(F/G,d 1-35 and d 1-56)linearly increased(P<0.05).2)Liver and heart weight(d 14),and heart weight(d 35)decreased in a linear manner with increasing of dietary corn gluten feed levels(P<0.05),while spleen weight and relative weight(d 14),and spleen weight(d 35)quadratically changed(P<0.05).3)With the increase of dietary corn gluten feed levels,the relative length of duodenum and jejunum(d 14)and ileum(d 35),and the relative weight of duodenum,jejunum and ileum(d 35),and the absolute and relative weight and length of duodenum(d 56),and jejunal length and relative weight,ileal relative length and relative weight,and cecum relative weight(d 56),linearly increased(P<0.05);Duodenal density(d 14),cecum length and relative length(d 56)quadratically changed(P<0.05);Ileal digesta p H(d 35)increased in a linear manner(P<0.05).4)Eviscerated yield with giblet rate(d 35)linearly decreased,and slaughter rate(d 56)quadratically changed(P<0.05)with increasing of dietary corn gluten feed levels(P<0.05).Compared to control group,20 % corn gluten feed group leg muscle yield(d 35)significantly increased(P<0.05).L* value of breast meat(d 35)increased in a linear manner,and a* value(d 35)quadratically changed(P<0.05)when increased dietary corn gluten feed levels.5)The dietary apparent metabolizable energy(AME,d1-14),and AME,dry matter,gross energy and crude protein utilization(d 15-35)linearly decreased with increasing of dietary corn gluten feed levels(P<0.05).The results suggested that the inclusion of 5-15 % corn gluten feed during 1-14 day decreased the growth performance,while had no significant effect on body weight(d 56)and growth performance(d 1-56).The suitable level of corn gluten feed in the diet of Nonghua meat ducks during d 1-14,d 15-35,d 36-56 was 5 %,10 % and 15 %,respectively.Experiment 2: Effects of different corn gluten feed levels in diets for each phase on growth performance,organ growth,and breast meat quality in Nonghua meat duck.This experiment was further conducted to determine the effects different corn gluten feed levels in diets for each phase on growth performance,organ growth,and breast meat quality in Nonghua meat duck.The experiment included phases Ⅰ and Ⅱ.Phase Ⅰ was 1-14 days of age(starter phase).During this phase,2 experimental diets contained 0 and 10 % corn gluten feed.Each dietary treatment consisted of 24 replicate cages of 14 birds.Phase Ⅱ included growth phase(d 15-35)and finish phase(d 36-56).During phase II,24 replicate cages in each dietary treatment in phase I were divided into 4 groups,including diets containing 0,10 %,20 % and 30 % corn gluten feed to form 2×4 factoral experimental design.The results showed that:1)There were no effects(P>0.05)on BW and BWG(d 1-14)of corn gluten feed supplmentation,while F/G(d 1-14)were significantly decreased(P<0.05)by 10 % corn gluten feed supplementation.Lung weight and relative weight(d 14),and duodenum absolute and relative length(d 14)were significantly increased(P<0.05),while ileum density(d 14)was significantly decreased(P<0.05)by 10 % corn gluten feed addition.2)There were no effects on BW(d 35 and d 56),BWG and FI(d 15-35,d 36-56 and d 15-56)during phase II.There were significantly interactive effects on F/G(d 1-14 and d 36-56)of corn gluten feed supplement between phase I and phase II(P<0.05).Kidney absolute weight(d 56),cecum absolute and relative weight,absolute and relative length(d 56)were significantly decreased during phase II(P<0.05)with the increase of corn gluten feed.There were significantly interactive effects on spleen weight(d 56)of corn gluten feed supplementation between phase I and phase II(P<0.05).3)The L* and b* value(d 56)of breast skin were significantly increased by 10 % corn gluten feed supplementation in phase I(P<0.05),and b* value(d 56)was significantly increased with increasing of dietary corn gluten feed levels in phase II(P<0.05).The malondialdehyde content(d 56)in breast meat was significantly increased when increased dietary corn gluten feed levels in phase II(P<0.05).The results suggested that whether the inclusion of of corn gluten feed during 1-14 days of age,there had no significant effect on growth performance(d 56).Without corn gluten feed during 1-14 days of age,the utilization of 20 % and 30 % corn gluten feed and economic benefits were improved.20 % and 30 % corn gluten feed in the diet increase the content of MDA in the breast muscle of ducks.In combination with growth performance and breast meat quality,the suitable level of corn gluten feed in the diet of Nonghua meat ducks(d 1-56)was 10 %.