Effects of Different Alternative Growth Promoters on the Performance and Intestinal Health of Khaki Campbell Ducks

An experiment was conducted to compare the effect of different alternative growth promoters along with an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) on performances of Khaki Campbell ducks. A total of three hundred twenty ducklings were distributed randomly into one control (without any additives) and seven treatment groups, each group containing four replicates (10 ducks per replicate). Seven treatment groups were added with 1) organic acids combination (ammonium formate, calcium propionate, calcium lactate) @0.1% each, 2) yeast nucleotides @ 2%, 3) bacteriophage @250 g/ton of feed, 4) antibiotic powder (Kitacin) AGP @ 100 g/ton of feed, 5) bacteriophage and yeast extract @10 g/100 kg feed, 6) sodium butyrate @300 g/ton of feed and 7) ethyl butyrate @ 2.5ml/l of water. Sixty three day-performance study indicated that body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P<0.01) highest on a ration containing 2% yeast nucleotides followed by 0.1% organic acids combination and 10 g/100 kg bacteriophage and yeast extract combination. The yeast nucleotide supplementation significantly (P<0.01) increased the villus height of the different segments of small intestines of the ducklings followed by organic acid combinations and the antibiotic group. Salmonella counts in the intestinal contents of bacteriophage fed birds were below detection limit whereas the organic acids combination group showed significantly (P<0.05) reduced E. coli counts in their intestinal contents. From the present study, it was indicated that supplementation of yeast nucleotide in the diet of duck had beneficial effect on the overall performance of the ducks over the antibiotic growth promoters. The organic acids and its salts were as good as the antibiotic growth promoters when performances of birds are concerned.