Effect on the performance of common ducks by supplementing duckweed in the diet of ensiled  banana pseudo stem - taro (Colocacia esculenta) foliage

Dao Thi My Tien, Ngo Thuy Bao Tran, Bui Phan Thu Hang and T R Preston*

An Giang University, Vietnam
dtmtien@agu.edu.vn
*TOSOLY, UTA-Colombia, AA#48, Socorro, Santander, Colombia

Abstract

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the use of duckweed as supplementary  protein source in the basal diet of rice bran and mixture of banana stem - taro silage to improve the performance of common ducks. 120 common ducks at 28 days old with an average body weight of 385 g were used were used for the study. The experiment was designed as  CRD (Completely randomized design) with four treatments and three replications. The treatments were based on the ratio between banana stem (BS) and taro foliage (TF) as BS0 (0% BS + 100 % TF); BS20: (20 % BS + 80 % TF); BS40: (40% BS + 60% TF); BS60: ( 60% BS + 40% TF). On all treatments duckweed was supplied ad libitum.

The live weight gain was highest on BS60 (7.7g/head/day).

Key words:  Feed intake, growth, local resources