Water Fowls

1-DUCK FARMING
 BREEDS OF DUCK
There are three categories of breeds
A)Egg-type
1. Khaki Campbell
2. Indian Runner
B) Meat-type
1. White Pekin (CHROMOSOME NO :80 )
2. Muscovy
3. Aylesbury
C) Ornamental-type
1. Crested White
 Vermiculation is a surface pattern of
Body diagram
dense but irregular lines

Bean
flatter than
that of a
chicken

Curly tail webbed toes, for

feathers of swimming
drake
But Muscovy lack

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 I- Meat production breeds
Muscovy (most popular), Aylesbury, Pekin and Rouen.
Various crosses between the four pure breeds are suitable for meat.
Muscovy (Main characters)
➢ Cross-mating (crossbred) progeny are infertile ‘mule duck*’.
➢ Muscovy's are poor egg producers, clutches may lay 20
eggs and go broody or pause before producing again.
➢ Its eggs take 35 days to hatch, whereas other breeds only 28 days.
➢ Its meat has a lower fat content than that of other
ducks.
) *heterochromatin in the homologous chromosomes(

Pekin
Commercially used for meat production, Pekins are better
egg producers than the Muscovy and Aylesbury.
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 II- Egg production breeds
Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner (good 3 seasons)
Indian Runner
➢ originated in East India (Malaysia and China).
➢ Common are fawn, white, black, and chocolate.
Range of Weights of Meat and Egg Production Birds
Meat Adult Drake-Kg Adult Duck -Kg
Muscovy 4.50 - 5.50 2.25 - 3.00
Pekin 4.00 - 4.50 3.50 - 3.75
Rouen 4.50 - 5.00 3.50 - 4.10
Egg
Indian Runner 2.00 - 2.25 1.60 - 2.00
Khaki Campbell 2.25 2.00
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 Selecting Duck Breeders
Points to consider:
*Body weight (highly heritable) select birds at market age
*Also consider body conformation, rate of feathering, egg
production, fertility, hatchability & feed conversion
*System of identification, well designed trap nests, and an
accurate recording system should be available.
Mating
*First-year ducks and drakes are the best (not < 6 months)
*Ducks and drakes should be mated for 2 weeks before eggs
collected for setting.
With the heavy breeds, Muscovy a ratio of one drake to 5
ducks
With the lighter breeds, Khaki Campbell one drake to 10 ducks
*One duck can produce about 100 marketable ducklings
 Housing: (intensively or semi-intensively)
➢ Intensive housing, the birds are housed indoors for the season
➢ Semi-intensive housing, birds have access to outside runs during
day, but locked indoors at night & at adverse weather conditions.
➢ Housing must be clean, dry, adequately ventilated
➢ Allow breeder area of at least 0.2 m2 of floor space inside the shed
(i.e. 5 birds/m2).. Wood shavings or any soft absorbent material to
a depth of about 7–8 cm is satisfactory.
 Laying nests
*Encourage ducks to use nests for clean eggs &
fewer breakages
*Nests should be clean, dry, comfortable and large
(size is 30 cm X 30 cm X 40 cm deep)
*Nesting material depth 7 cm.
*Encourage ducks to lay by providing open-framed
nest boxes on the side of walls at floor level.
Lighting
*Natural daylight with Artificial lighting ( total 15
hours ) 2 weeks before eggs setting are required.
Light intensity 1 FC provided by one 60 watt
incandescent bulb / 18 m2 of floor space.
Feeders: Provide each duck with a feeding space of
at least 12 cm (= four 2 m feeders / 100 adults)
Waterers: 3 cm of drinking space for each adult bird.
Ducks begin laying at 6–7 months of age at the rate of
90% (i.e. 100 ducks laying 90 eggs daily) within 5 weeks of
the onset of laying.
Egg handling
➢ Ducks lay their eggs during the night or early morning.
➢ Keep dirty eggs separate from clean eggs.
➢ Get ride of eggs being underweight, cracked or heavily mottled,
or poor shell texture. May fit for human consumption.(Warning)
➢ Dirty eggs must be cleaned immediately after collection to avoid
spoilage.
➢ Eggs should be fumigated after collection.
 Storage of eggs
*Eggs should be stored at 13°C with a relative humidity of 75% not
more than 7 days
*If eggs are to be kept longer than 7 days, turn them daily through
an angle of 90° with the pointed end down.
Remove eggs from cool storage to room temp 6 hours before setting;
to prevents a sudden rise in temp. when placed in the incubator.
*Set the incubator to run at 37.5°C & relative humidity of 70% And
reduce it by 0.2°C in the hatchers with 65% relative humidity being
increased to 70% when hatching (piping, chipping) begins.
All breeds hatch in 28 days But Muscovy, takes 35 days.
Turning eggs allows free movement of embryos & prevents the egg’s
contents from sticking to the shell. Eggs turned with an angle of 90°.
Eggs may be candled for fertility on day 7 and 25 days’ incubation
(32 days for Muscovies). Remove infertile eggs, and the eggs with
dead embryos,
Hatchability can be from 60%–75%,
 Brooding
 Brooder house should be well ventilated but excludes the
draughts that cause chills.
 Wall openings 1.2 m from the floor provide good ventilation.
 Ducklings may be brooded on wire or litter, or on a
combination of both.
 The floor should preferably be concrete, with litter 8 cm deep.
 For ducklings up to 10 days old, allow 200 cm2/bird (i.e. 50
birds/m2).
At 8 weeks allow1250 cm2/bird (8 birds/m2) as they grow quickly.
 At the first week, the temp. of the brooder should be 30°C.
 Gradually reduce this by 3°C each week until the third week,
remove heat source (depending on the weather).
 Ducklings may have access to outside runs from about 10 days
of age.
 Remember that artificially brooded ducklings cannot tolerate
rain until they have enough feathers at about 3–4 weeks of age.
Ducklings can die if they are without water for even short periods.
Staggering and convulsions are typical symptoms of lack of water.
*For each duckling up to 3 weeks of age, provide 1.5 cm of drinking
space and 4 cm of feeding space.
Floor rearing: In intensive & semi-intensively housing, allow 8
birds per sq. m. of floor space up to 8 weeks of age. (raise ducklings
in no more than 500)
Drinkers, feeders and litter should be managed in the same way as
for the brooding period. However, ducklings need about 75% more
drinking and feeding space (i.e. 3.5 cm drinking space and 7 cm
feeding space)

Feeding: Ducklings should be started on a diet containing

20% protein within 36 hours of hatching. Maintain it for
2 weeks and then reduce it to 17% until marketing.
*As high-energy rations cause too much fat to be
deposited.
 Feeding: Breeding stock
 When ducklings are about 8 weeks of age, transfer them to a
breeder’s ration. Breeding ducks should then be restrictively fed to
about 80% of their normal daily feed intake until 2 weeks before the
onset of egg production.
 Crumbles or pellets can be placed in hoppers so ducks have
access to them at all times, or wet mash may be fed twice daily.
*Each duck will eat about 225 g of feed per day.
 Provide about 40% of this in the morning feed and 60% in the
evening feed.
*Feed conversion ratios for ducks are around 2.5 - 3:1 when
ducklings are marketed at 6 weeks of age with a live weight of
nearly 3 kg.
*Market Pekins and Aylesburys as ‘green’ ducks at 7–8 weeks of age
and their live weight is 2.5–2.8 kg.
*Market Muscovy's ducks at 11 weeks with 2.25 kg live weight and
drakes at 14 weeks with 3.5 kg live weight.
 Feather-plucking or flesh eating:
Ducklings over 4 weeks old are more prone to develop this vice
(cannibalism) . It is associated with feeling bored and is aggravated
by: overcrowding, lack of ventilation, and Faulty nutrition.
To stop it remove the rim at the front of the duck’s upper bill.
Commercial beak-trimming (3 & 6 weeks).

Normal (left) and TRIM

(right) ducklings at the age
of 6 weeks
 DUCK FARMING
Nationwide Problem
Egypt produces 10 million ducks,
imports 25 million annually:
Ministry
25 million ducks are imported every year
to meet local demand, an official report
issued by Agriculture Ministry
Ducks are suitable for
integrated farming systems
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DEEP LITTER HOUSE