Basic Intoduction to duck farming

1. PRESENTED TO:
MADAM KANWAL

2.  Farming ducks for egg and meat purpose is
called duck farming.

3.  Mallards were first domesticated, but there
is some evidence to suggest that the
Egyptians used ducks in religious sacrifice
and possibly also bred them for food. The
Southeast Asians were also raising ducks in
captivity prior to 500 B.C and the Romans
certainly enjoyed the company of ducks so
long as they had been properly roasted first.
Until the 19th century, ducks were kept
mostly for eating rather than their wonderful
eggs.

4.  Mallard is the ancestor of almost all of the
varieties of domesticated ducks

5.  Ducks lay more egg per bird per year than
chicken.
 The size of the duck egg is larger than hen egg
by about 15 to 20 grams.
 Ducks require lesser attention
 Ducks supplements their feed by foraging. They
eat fallen grains in paddy fields, insects, snails,
earthworms, small fishes and other aquatic
materials

6.  From commercial point of view, ducks have a longer
profitable life. They lay well even in second year.
 Ducks do not require any elaborate houses like
chicken
 Ducks are quite hardy, more easily brooded and more
resistant to common avian diseases.
 Marshy river side, wet land and barren moors upon
which chicken or no other type of stock will flourish,
are excellent quarters for duck farming.
 Ducks lay 95 – 98% of their eggs in the morning
before 9.00 AM. Thus saving lot of time and labour.

7.  Ducks are good exterminators of potato beetles,
grasshoppers, snails and slugs. In areas plagued
liver flukes, ducks can help correct the problem
(2 to 6 ducks per 0.405 hectare of land). Ducks
can be used to free the bodies of water from
mosquito pupae and larvae (6 to 10 ducks per
0.405 hectare of water surface)
 Ducks are quite intelligent, can be tamed easily,
and trained to go to ponds and come back in the
evening of their own.

8.  Among the egg laying breeds, Khaki Campbell is
the best producer.
 Individual egg production of almost an egg a day
in this breed for well over twelve months has
been recorded and flock averages in excess of
300 eggs per duck per year are not uncommon.
Khaki Campbell ducks weigh about 2 to 2.2 Kgs,
and drakes 2.2 to 2.4 Kgs. Egg size varies from
65 to 75 gms.
 White Pekin is the most popular duck in the
world known for table purpose. It is fast growing
and has low feed consumption with fine quality
of meat. It attains about 2.2 to 2.5 Kgs of body
weight in 42 days of age, with a feed conversion
ratio of 1:2.3 to 2.7 Kgs.

10.  The Khaki Campbell is a breed of
domesticated duck
 It originated in England by Adel Campbell in the
20th century.

11.  The Pekin duck is a domesticated duck used
primarily for egg and meat production.
 It was bred from the Mallard in China.
 It was brought to the United States about 1873,
where it is the most popular commercial duck
breed.

12.  The incubation period of Khaki Campbell
duck is 28 days. In forced draft incubators
satisfactory results are attained at a
temperature of 37.5 to 37.2o C (99.5 to 99o
F). The wet-bulb reading on the
thermometer should be 30 to 31oC (86 to
88oF) during incubation for the first 25 days
and 32.7 to 33.8oC (90 to 92oF) for the last
three days of hatching.
 Eggs are transferred to hatcher on 25th day.

14.  The brooding period of Khaki Campbell
ducklings is 3 to 4 weeks. For meat type
ducklings such as Pekin, brooding for 2 to 3
weeks is sufficient. Provide hover space of 90
to 100 sq.cms. per ducklings under the
brooder. A temperature of 29 to 32o C (85 to
90oC) is maintained during the first week. It
is reduced by about 3oC per week till it
reaches 24oC (75oF) during the fourth week.

15.  Ducklings may be reared in intensive, semi-
intensive or range system. Under intensive
system, allow a floor space of 0.279m2 (3 sq.ft.)
up to 16 weeks of age. Under semi-intensive
system, a floor space of 0.186 to 0.279m2 (21/2 to
3 sq.ft) per bird is allowed in night shelter and
0.929 to 1.394 m2 (10 to 15 sq.ft.) as outside run
per bird upto the age of 16 weeks. Usually
ducklings are allowed to move to runs at the end
of 3 to 4 weeks of age depending upon weather.
Water in the drinkers should be 12.5 to 15 cm
(5” to 6”) deep to allow minimum immersion of
their heads.

16.  Ducks do not require elaborate houses. The
house should be well ventilated, dry and rat
proof. The roof may be of shed type, gable
or half round.
 Under semi-intensive system the house
should have easy access to outside run as the
ducks prefer to be outdoors during the day
time and even during winter or rains

17.  In areas where poultry raising is allowed and
space is available, a small flock of ducks can be
kept in the yard of a household at a low cost.
 The shelter should be located on a high, well-
drained area of the yard. Whenever available,
sandy soil is preferable for the duck yard
because it drains quickly after a rain.
 The earth floor of the sheltered area should be
bedded with straw, shavings or similarly dry
absorbent material.
 Low fencing (about 61cm) is satisfactory for
Pekins, since they do not fly, but not for
Muscovies, which are adept to becoming
airborne.
 If predators are a problem at night, the open
areas of the shed and pen may have to be
covered with inexpensive netting or wire mesh.

18.  Ducks may be kept successfully on open
ponds, provided a nearby dry sheltered area
is available. Ducks kept on ponds may obtain
part of their food from plant and animal life
in and around the pond, but supplemental
feeding will probably be necessary. In
tropical areas it is common to combine duck
raising on ponds.
 The number of ducks kept on ponds must be
limited to prevent an over-supply of
nutrients and overgrowth of plant life which
will cause depletion of oxygen in the water
and kill the fish with fish farming.

20.  In Indonesia, herded flocks under the care of
a single herdsman usually range in size from
90 to 130.
 During the day, a flock of ducks, usually
mature females, is allowed to search for
food in harvested rice fields and other areas
where food is plentiful.
 At night, the flock is returned to a
confinement, usually a bamboo pen, where
eggs are laid during the night.
 Eggs are collected and sold, or used for food
by the herdsman's family.

22.  Commercial duck housing is usually one of two types:
total confinement and semi-confinement.
 In modern commercial total-confinement duck
housing, age groups are kept isolated, either in
separate buildings or in separate rooms with solid
partitions between them.
 Floor design is usually one of two types: all wire
mesh; or a combination of litter and wire mesh with
waterer located on the wire.
 Ventilation systems are usually the negative pressure
type with adjustable, or automatically controlled air
inlets and exhaust fans located along the side walls.
 Semi-confinement duck housing is similar to the
above in many respects with the exception that ducks
over 2-3 weeks of age are allowed outdoors during
the day

24.  At the time of hatching, ducklings require a
high temperature of about 86°F (30°C). They
are not yet able to regulate their body
temperature and must have supplemental
heat such as that provided by a brooder.

25.  Overcrowding ducks can be extremely
detrimental to their health, growth or egg
production. Providing adequate floor space
at each stage of development is basic to
successful duck raising.
 While under crowding is not usually a
problem, it is better to stock ducks in cold
weather so that body heat will help warm
the room in which the ducks are confined.

26.  Duck keepers should avoid flooring that will
injure the skin covering the feet and hock
joints of ducks.
 If wire floors are used, floors for ducklings
under 3 weeks should be constructed of 1.9
cm (3/4 inch) mesh, 12-gauge welded wire,
attached to a frame designed to keep the
wire flat, and minimize manure
accumulation.
 For ducks over 3 weeks, 2.5 cm (1 inch)
mesh is best.

27.  Most feeders used for other poultry, are
satisfactory for ducks.
 During their early stages of growth, ducklings
eat frequently, much like chickens.
 As they grow older they are able to store
increasing amounts of feed in their
esophagus at each feeding, and thus need to
eat less frequently.
 By about four weeks of age, Pekin ducks can
easily consume 100 grams or more of pellets
at a single feeding.

28.  Waterers designed for chickens and turkeys are
usually satisfactory for ducks, as long as the size
of the duck's bill is considered.
 Trough, can or jar-type waterers can be used so
long as the drinking area is wide enough (at least
4 cm) for the duck to submerge its bill.

29.  Though duck is a water fowl and very fond of
water, water for swimming is not essential at any
stage of duck rearing. However, water in
drinkers should be sufficiently deep to allow the
immersion of their heads and not themselves. If
they cannot do this, their eyes seem to get scaly
and crusty and in extreme cases, blindness may
follow.
 While in meat strains a slight increase in body
weight of ducks at seven weeks of age has been
noticed (weight advantage of swimming ducks to
non-swimming ducks is 0.3%), but for egg laying
strains, swimming is a disadvantage.