IMPACT OF ADDING Astragalus membranaceus POWDER IN PEKIN DUCKLINGS’ DIETS ON THE PERFORMANCE DURING THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF AGE

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Poult. Dept., Fac. Agric., Zagazig Univ., Egypt

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of adding Astragalus membranaceus in Pekin ducklings’ diets at two levels (0.5 and 1.0 g/kg diet) on growth performance parameters of growing ducklings during the first two weeks of age. A total of 150 healthy one- day-old Pekin ducklings were randomly distributed into 3 experimental groups. Each group contained 5 replicates with 10 birds each. The first group received the standard diet with no supplementation, while the 2nd and 3rd groups received the standard diet supplemented with 0.5 and 1.0 g Astragalus membranaceus per kg diet, respectively. This study found that dietary supplementation with Astragalus membranaceus at 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg diet had no significant impact (P> 0.05) on the growth performance of Pekin ducklings during the first two weeks of age. Live body weight (LBW) at hatch and at the end of weeks 1 and 2 showed no significant differences among groups (P = 0.325, 0.964, and 0.442, respectively). Similarly, daily body weight gain (DBWG) during 0–1 week, 1–2 weeks, and the overall 0–2-week period was not significantly affected (P=0.823, 0.368, and 0.517, respectively) by dietary supplementation of Astragalus membranaceus. Daily feed intake (DFI) also remained statistically unchanged across all treatments (P = 0.429, 0.708, and 0.651), despite slight numerical increases in the supplemented groups. Furthermore, feed conversion ratio (FCR) during all intervals showed no significant variation among treatments (P = 0.313, 0.819, and 0.700). Overall, the inclusion of Astragalus membranaceus at these levels did not significantly affect growth, DFI, or FCR in young Pekin ducklings.

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