Comparative studies on egg quality between Kuzhi ducks of Odisha and other duck breeds and chickens

A study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the egg quality parameters of three prominent breeds of ducks vis a vis an eggtype chicken: WLH, at peak production ages. The genotypes used for the experiment included 30 adult layers each, belonging to 3 different breeds viz., Khaki Campbell, White Pekin and a native duck breed: Kuzhi (reared in Odisha and adjoining regions). The study recorded egg number, egg mass and various egg quality parameters for a period of 90 days (w.e.f 40 weeks of age), and compared between the species (ducks versus WLH) from egg production point of view. The results revealed that Pekin ducks scored the highest among genotypes, for yolk index and remained comparable to Khaki ducks for albumen index. For component weights like yolk, albumen and shell weight too, the Pekins remained significantly ahead of other breeds of ducks and WLH chickens. For shell thickness, the duck eggs were significantly better than chicken eggs, while having non-significant difference among duck breeds. For egg weight among ducks, the Pekins were the highest, followed by Kuzhi and Khaki breed. The ducks in general, were significantly ahead of chickens for egg weight while for egg production, the marginal edge of WLH was visible over ducks. However, for egg-mass, all duck breeds were significantly better than WLH while the Kuzhi ducks scored the highest of all the genotypes. The study clearly inferred the superiority of ducks for average egg-mass output over chickens. Our study established that: the egg mass achievable from ducks are higher than that of popular layer-chicken breed WLH, while within ducks, Kuzhi ducks have an edge over khaki breed for many egg quality traits. It was concluded that egg quality attributes of Kuzhi indigenous ducks render them as dependable egg type poultry for Odisha state and adjoining region.