|
Livestock-Based Farming Systems, Renewable Resources and the Environment |
120 common ducks at 21 days old were used for an experiment that was carried out to evaluate the effect of ensiled product made from banana stem and taro foliage on the growth performance. The experiment was designed in CRD (Completely Randomized Design) with five treatments and three replicates. The treatments were based on percentages of the silage of banana stem and taro foliage (BT) (ensiled 50:50 ratio, DM basis) and rice bran (RB) in the proportions of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% (BT) of the diet.
DM intake decreasedd and DM feed conversion was improved when the banana stem-taro silage replaced rice bran (Figures 1 and 3). Livewe eight gain showed a positive curvilinear response witht heoptimu at between 30 and 40% decrease, Livve weight ggain increased curvilinearly with the optimum between 30 and 40% banana stem-taro silage in the diet (Figure 2).
 |
 |
| Figure 1. Trends in DM intake as the ensiled mixture of banana stem and Taro foliage replaced rice bran in the diet of common ducks | Figure 2. Trends in live weight gain as the ensiled mixture of banana stem and Taro foliage replaced rice bran in the diet of common ducks |
 |
|
| Figure 3. Trends in DM feed conversion as the ensiled mixture of banana stem and Taro foliage replaced rice bran in the diet of common ducks |
Key words: common ducks, banana stem and taro foliage, feed intake, feed conversion.