• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1870-1878
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• 2021

Objective: The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of different colors produced by light emitting diode (LED) on Brown Tsaiya ducks. Methods: A total of 144 female Brown Tsaiya ducks were randomly allocated into three individual cage rearing chambers with different LED illumination colors as treatments. Three different treatments were: i) white color, ii) blue color, and iii) red color. The experiment periods were from ducks 21 to 49 weeks of age, determined traits included i) egg laying performance, ii) feed intake, iii) egg shell breaking strength, iv) egg shell thickness, v) egg Haugh unit, vi) egg weight, vii) serum Estradiol and Progesterone concentration, and viii) behavior pattern. Results: The results indicated that when compared with white and blue color, red color could stimulate ducks sexual maturation and raised the egg laying performance. The red light group was also observed to have the highest feed intake among three treatments. The blue treatment had the lowest egg shell breaking strength and the highest egg weight among three treatments, nevertheless, no significant difference was observed among three treatments on egg shell thickness and egg Haugh unit. The red light group had higher serum estradiol concentration than the white and blue groups, but no significant difference among treatments on the serum Progesterone concentration was found. The results of behavior pattern indicated that red light group showed more feeding and less resting behavior compared to the blue light group. Conclusion: We found a potential of applying red light illumination in the indoor laying duck raising system with positive results on egg laying performance and acceptable egg weight, equivalent egg qualities compared to white and blue light.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.331-337
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• 1993

In order to understand the effect of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) on the economic performance of ducks, Three groups (DHBV congenitally infected, experimentally infected and DHBV negative) Brown Tsaiya ducks (Anas platyrhyncha) were used for experimental animals. Artificial insemination and pedigree hatching were applied in the propagation of ducklings, and the efficiency of vertical transmission and experimental infection was analyzed through the detection of DHBV DNA in the sera of 8-week-old offspring. The observation of the records of the first year indicated that the persistent infection had no significant effects on the performance of ducks, except the egg number of survival ducks up to 40 week of age. Thus DHBV infection did not appear to give ill effects to the economic performance of ducks in first laying year. A higher infection rate (85.3%) was obtained in congenital transmission than that (75.5%) of experimental infection. Both modes of infection did not reach 100% infectious rate, although some ducks developed transient viraemia in a tracing of DHBV DNA for 24 weeks to 11 challenged ducklings.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.225-228
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• 1992

The study was undertaken to determine the effect of various levels of dietary magnesium on the metabolizability of magnesium in laying Tsaiya ducks and Leghorn hens. Twenty-five Tsaiya ducks and 25 Leghorn hens were raised in individual cages. The basal diet was mainly consisted of corn starch and isolated soybean protein. At the beginning of the experiments, birds were fed the basal diet added with 500 mg/kg Mg (1070 mg/kg in total by analysis) for 10 days in order to make the birds adapt to the new diet. Then, they were randomly divided into five treatments with five birds for each treatment and fed the experimental diets containing 690, 1070, 1690, 2150 or 2380 mg/kg Mg for 21 days and during the last five days excreta were collected. The experiment was repeated three times each at the age of 25, 31 and 36 weeks. The metabolizability of magnesium in the diet was determined by the indicator method. The metabolizabilities of magnesium for Tsaiya duck and Leghorn hen were 59.9% and 62.5%, respectively as the diet contained 690 mg/kg magnesium, and were significantly decreased (p<0.05) to 39.7 and 30.7%, respectively when the dietary magnesium content was increased to 2380 mg/kg.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.67-75
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• 1989

Studies were conducted to compare the utilization of dietary calcium between brown laying Tsaiya duck and Leghorn hen. Birds were fed corn-soybean diets containing 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0% calcium, respectively, with five birds per treatment. The metabolizability of calcium was determined by the indicator method. Experiments were conducted three times each at the age of 27, 31 and 36 weeks. Results appeared that duck eggs were heavier with better shell quality in comparison with hen eggs. Ducks fed 1% calcium diet resulted in severely depressed egg production (19%), but not for hens which still had 56% egg production. The metabolizability of calcium for hens was significantly higher than that for ducks (P<0.05) when both were fed diets containing 1 or 2% calcium. As the dietary calcium level was increased to 3 to 5%, there was no significant difference in calcium metabolizability between ducks and hens. When the dietary calcium was between 2 to 5%, the ducks retained more calcium than did the hens. Plasma calcium content for both hens and ducks fed 1% calcium diet was about the same. When the amount of the dietary calcium was increased to 2-5%, the plasma calcium level of ducks was approximately 7-10 mg/dl higher than that of hens. The calcium content in the egg shell of duck was significantly higher than that of hens, too. As the dietary calcium level was increased, there was a decreased magnesium content in the eggshell of hens, but not for ducks. The magnesium level in the eggshell was higher in hens than that in ducks. It is concluded that ducks could retain significantly more calcium and maintain higher plasma calcium level which might be the reason for larger eggs with better shell quality by ducks.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.565-569
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• 2003

The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of different levels of refined cod liver oil (RCLO) on laying performance, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids composition (n-3 PUFAs) and the organoleptic evaluation of duck egg yolks. A total of 180 30 wk old laying Tsaiya ducks, at the beginning of peak production, were allotted into 6 treatments with 3 replicates each. Ducks were fed one of the 6 experimental diets, supplemented with 2% tallow (control) and graded levels of RCLO at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6% to a corn-soybean diets, respectively, for 6 wks. All of the experimental diets were formulated to be both isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum throughout the experimental period. The results indicated that the RCLO supplementation levels did not affect (p>0.05) egg production, egg mass, feed intake, feed efficiency or body weight change. Egg weight was the lightest when the ducks received the 6% RCLO diet. The eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and total n-3 PUFAs contents in the yolks increased with increasing RCLO supplementation. The taste and general acceptability of the hard-boiled eggs were not significantly different among the treatments. However, a fishy flavor was much higher when ducks were fed diets supplemented with 5% and 6% RCLO diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.1090-1095
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• 1999

In order to minimize the occurrence of fatty liver, this study investigated how adding a high level of dietary choline or methionine affected the lipid metabolism of Tsaiya ducks. Feeding trials were conducted with sixty Tsaiya ducks during their growing period, when they were 8-12 weeks old, and during their laying period, 10-14 weeks after the onset of laying when they were 26-30 weeks old. The ducks were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group (basal diet), a group in which methionine was added to the basal diet, and a group in which choline was added to the basal diet. The levels of methionine and choline added were twice as high as the levels recommended by the NRC for layer-type chickens. Experimental results indicated that adding choline to the basal diet of growing ducks significantly (p<0.05) increased their body weight, while adding methionine significantly (p<0.05)reduced their body weight. Adding either choline or methionine reduced the ducks' liver fat content in both the growing and the laying periods (p<0.05). Ducks receiving added methionine or choline in their diets displayed enhanced egg production (p<0.05). Adding choline increased serum triacylglycerol (TG) in the laying period (p<0.05). Adding either choline or methionine did not significantly (p>0.05) affect the t-globulin level. Adding methionine increased the activity of liver malic dehydrogenase in both the growing and the laying periods, and increased fatty acid synthetase in the laying period (p<0.05). While adding choline markedly (p>0.05) increased VLDL and apo B in both the growing and the laying periods, it decreased HDL and apo A in the laying period (p<0.05). This study found that adding a high level of choline to the basal diets of Tsaiya ducks in both the growing and the laying periods had beneficial effects. Furthermore, adding methionine affected the lipid metabolism of Tsaiya ducks to a lesser extent than adding choline.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.365-368
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• 1992

The experiment was carried out to estimate the energy and protein requirements of Khaki Campbell $\times$ Thai Native laying ducks. To estimate the energy requirement, 5 experimental diets were formulated at levels of 2.70, 2.75, 2.80, 2.85 and 2.90 Mcal ME/kg. These diets were equal in ME/CP ratio (170/l). A total of 150 18-week old laying ducks were assigned to 5 energy level treatments, each comprising 3 replicates of 10 birds each, and they were fed the diets for 18 weeks. To estimate the protein requirement, 90 18-week old laying ducks were divided into 9 groups of 10 birds each, and they were assigned to 3 protein level treatments, each comprising 3 replicates. The levels of protein in the diets were 13.5%, 15.0% and 16.5%, and all diets were isocaloric (2.8 Mcal ME/kg). As a result, the 16.5% protein diet gave significantly better egg production than the 13.5% and 15.0% protein diets, however, no significant difference in egg production was found among the energy levels. Feed cost to produce 1k eggs was lower in the 2.70 Mcal and 16.5%protein diets than in the higher ME and lower protein diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1069-1074
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• 2014

In China and South East Asia, the duck (common duck) is important in egg production for human consumption. Plumage color is a breed characteristic and of economic importance, together with egg production. Our aim in this study was to investigate the inheritance of plumage color in three Chinese indigenous egg-type duck breeds, Shan Ma (S), Putian White (F) and Putian black (P), and some of their crossbreds. These three breeds have different plumage color and are used in crossbreeding. The crossbred laying ducks $F{\times}(P{\times}S)$ and $F{\times}(S{\times}P)$ showed highly improved laying ability but heterogeneous plumage color. Genotypes at four relevant loci were investigated by studying down color and pattern in ducklings after crossbreeding. $F_1$ ducklings from the matings $F{\times}S$ and $S{\times}F$, $P{\times}S$, and $S{\times}P$ were classified into four classes of plumage color (the Shan Ma plumage color, black, white, or multicolored) over three generations. Parents were selected for the Shan Ma plumage color of their progeny. In the fourth generation, P male and P female ducks were selected according to the frequency of the desired class of plumage color (Shan Ma) of their $F_1$ progeny to obtain the so-called "Brown Putian Ma duck". The Shan Ma duck genotype was identified as having the restricted mallard color pattern ($M^RM^R$), full expression of any of the patterns or colors (CC), no extended black (ee) and no brown dilution D (D). The Putian White genotype was recessive white (cc), no extended black (ee) and no brown dilution D (D). The Putian Black genotype exhibited full expression of extended black (E gene) and no brown dilution (CCEE D [D]). It was shown that $F{\times}S$ and $S{\times}F$ tests should be implemented to eliminate the recessive white c allele in the S line and the dominant extended black E allele in the F line. It was also shown that the Brown Putian Ma obtained from Putian Black, with no extended black genotype (ee), could be used to get rid of the black plumage (E gene) in the crossbred ducks. This could provide a solution for producing 3-way crossbred ducks Putian $White{\times}$(Putian-$Ma{\times}Shan$ Ma) and Putian $White{\times}$(Shan $Ma{\times}Putian$-Ma), with the desired Shan Ma feather color.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2012

This work was conducted to evaluate the laying performance of Korean Native Ducks (KND) Pure-Line (PL). A total of 400 female pullets were hatched from PL to keep in National Institute of Animal Science, Korea. Twenty weeks old PL female ducks were divided into 4 groups (5 replications/group, 20 head/replications). Four groups were compared in a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement with strain (White strains, WW; Celadon strains, CC) and house type (flat house, cage house). On first egg laying day, CC strain laid eggs earlier compared to WW strain (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference between flat and cage house. Egg weight (EW) and body weight (BW) at first egg laying day have no difference among strains and houses. BW of CC strain was higher than WW strain at the age of 30 week (P<0.01). Weekly feed intake (FI) have no difference between flat and cage house, but FI of WW strain was high compared to CC strain during 20~30 weeks. There was no significant difference on EW between CC and WW strains, but EW was low at flat house compared to cage house (P<0.05). Weekly egg productions of WW strain and flat house were lower than CC strain and cage house, respectively (P<0.01). Finally, These results can provide the information that needed to introducing new strains.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.984-989
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• 2004

Three hundred and twelve female Tsaiya ducks from four lines (L1051, L1052, L1053 and L1054) were used in this study to investigate the changes in plasma calcium and inorganic phosphorus levels, blood pH, carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO$_{2}$), bicarbonate ion concentration ($HCO_{3}^{-}$), and base excess (BE) during laying periods. The results indicated that plasma calcium and inorganic phosphorus concentration at 40 and 50 wks of age were higher (p<0.05) than those at other ages. Significant positive correlation coefficients were found between plasma calcium and inorganic phosphorus levels at each age tested from 20 to 50 wks. Ducks from L1053 showed lower (p<0.05) blood pH, BE and $HCO_{3}^{-}$ as compared with other lines. Ducks from L1054 had higher (p<0.05) blood pH, BE and $HCO_{3}^{-}$ than those of other lines showing that there were some differences on blood parameters among lines. Eggshell strength decreased with age up to 65 wks and remained constant thereafter. Egg weight increased gradually from 30 to 60 wks and decreased slightly after 70 wks of age. Plasma inorganic phosphorus level in 40 and 50 wks old birds was positively correlated with eggshell strength, while blood $HCO_{3}^{-}$ in 40 and 50 wks old birds was negatively correlated with eggshell strength.