A survey of Muscovy duck production in rural areas of Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam

Abstract

In case of livestock development in the rural areas of Tra Vinh province of Vietnam, Muscovy duck breeds are diversified by importing and breeding, which is more valuable for social and economic benefits. A total of 7,921 Muscovy ducks were observed to collect data for this survey to identify the current status of its production, feeding, and performance. Farmers, who owned at least 30 ducks, were interviewed to analyze data ownership, feeding, and growth performance of three breeds relating to the Muscovy including local Muscovy ducks (LMDs), France Muscovy duck (FMDs), and Crossbred Muscovy ducks (CMDs). The findings indicated that most farmers kept a small duck herd of fewer than 100 heads per householder, and the majority of Muscovy duck was LMDs. Farmers fed them local feed resources, with low nutritive diets (CP: 7.35 – 12.0 % and ME: 11.44 - 11.83 MJ/kg DM). A small number of farmers used a concentrate feed (CP: 16.5-19.3; ME: 11.96-12.69 MJ/kg DM) for supple-mentation with the daily weight gain was 16.7 g for LMDs and 22.7 g for CMDs, whilw the FMDs was fed a better quality of concentrate and gave the daily gain of 25.7 g.