Introduction
Rearing ducks is not as difficult as rearing chickens. In fact the ducks possessed a higher survival rate and are not prone to disease attacks. The method of rearing and management of layer ducks are easier and varies slightly from those of chickens.
Breed Selection
Selecting a good breed is the main factor in ensuring good egg production. Only ducklings from good farm producers or from accredited hatcheries should be purchased for this purpose
Characteristics for good layer duck
- High survival rate
- Free from any deformity
- High egg production (around 260 to 300 eggs per year)
- Produce good quality eggs:
(i) Weight between 65 to 75 gm per egg
(ii) Hard shelled eggs
(iii) Golden egg yolk - Broad pelvic bone
- Average body size. Bodyweight during lay (between 1.3 – 1.8 kg.)
Most suitable layer ducks are the crossbreds from Khaki Campbell from Thailand, Taiwan and Australia.
Khaki Campbell
Housing and Equipment
Housing for layer duck should have the following criteria:
- Good ventilation. Good ventilation helps to dry up the moisture content and also remove ammonia gas from the duck faeces
- The size of the house should be suitable to the total number of ducks reared. Do not build the house that is too small or too big. The space area for an adult duck should be 3 to 4 square feet.
- The roof of the hose should be more than 3 feet from the floor level and several doors be installed facing towards the opened areas. The purpose of the doors is to ensure that the ducks are enclosed in the house during the night so that they are safe from enemies and at the same time the eggs are not lay indiscriminately which cause the eggs to be dirty or lost.
- The design of the duck house should be suitable for the farmers to move around like washing, treating and collection of eggs.
Equipments
- Amongst artificial brooder are hover, infrared, high voltage bulb, kerosene lamps
- Feeding and drinking troughs
- Laying boxes
- Egg trays, pails, spades for mixing feed etc.
Feed
An important factor to ensure successful production of the project is feed. Feed is an important factor in controlling satisfactory profit. From the economic point of view, feed will determine the cost of production. As a result the farmers must be smart in evaluating different kinds of feed to save cost in managing the project.
There are 2 types of feed suitable for layer duck
- Commercial feed
- Self mixed feed
1.Commercial Feed
Commercial feed is manufactured from feedmills whereby the feed contained essential nutritious food values and vitamins that are formulated according to age and species of the animal.
|
Age |
Type of feed |
% Protein |
Ingredients |
| 0 – 2 weeks | Starter mash |
20 % |
Energy 2700 – 3000 |
| 2 – 3 weeks | Starter mix with grower mash |
- |
- |
| 4 – 16 weeks | Grower Mash |
16 % |
2500 – 2800 |
| 16 weeks till laying | Layer mash |
17 % |
2600 – 2900 |
2. Self-Mixed Feed
One formulated feed which contains all the necessary vitamins that is easily available can be self mixed for the good production and health of the duck. The ingredient are: Broken rice, padi grain, fish meal, prawn meal, soya bean meal, layer premix vitamins and minerals, grounded limestones, corn, synthetics pigments and others.
Estimated Feed requirement for a layer duck
|
Age |
|
| 0 – 4 weeks |
1.2 kg. – 1.6 kg. |
| 5 weeks – 22 weeks |
11.0 kg – 11.8 kg |
| 22 weeks and above (laying period) |
160 to 170 gm per bird per day |
For a layer duck controlling the feed intake is necessary when they are 7 weeks old. Controlling the feed can be observed by looking at the bodyweight and for a layer duck that begin to lay, the feed intake should be around 1.3 kg – 1.75 kg. (for Campbell Duck the maximum weight is 1.9 kg )