Feed Intake and Growth in Khaki Campbell Ducks During Starter Stage Given Different Levels of Protein in the Diet

The present work was conducted on 225 unsexed day-old Khaki Campbell chicks during the period between March to June, 2013. The ducklings were randomly distributed into three treatment groups, each group having three replicates of 25 birds each. The ducklings were given diets containing 18, 20 and 22% crude protein in treatments T₁, T₂ and T₃, respectively in order to study the optimum levels of protein for growth in Khaki Campbell ducks during starter period (0–8 weeks). The live weight of ducklings in different treatments increased steadily up to 8 weeks of age and the cumulative body weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) higher in T₃ (646.78±16.19 g) than T₁ (523.11±6.43 g) during 0–4 weeks of age but the differences between T₃ and T₂ were found to be non-significant (646.78±16.19 g and 600.41±10.18 g). The overall cumulative feed consumption per duck under different treatments was similar with values ranging from 4522.82 to 4792.75 g per duck during 0–8 weeks of age. The cost of feed per kg live weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) lower in T₃ ( 78.00) followed by T₂ ( 85.34) and T₁ ( 91.27) from 0–4 weeks of age. Therefore, increase in the supplementation of protein in the Khaki Campbell ducks during the starter period significantly improved the growth and feed conversion ratio of the birds, suggesting that the protein level in the diet should be maintained at 22% during starter period.