The influence of relative humidity during the first 21 days post-hatch on the production performance, biochemical indices, and meat quality of Pekin ducks

Dongyue Sun; Congcong Xu; Yi Liu; Zichun Dai; Ziyi Pan; Rong Chen; Rihong Guo; Fang Chen; Zhendan Shi; Shijia Ying

doi:10.1016/j.psj.2024.104473

The influence of relative humidity during the first 21 days post-hatch on the production performance, biochemical indices, and meat quality of Pekin ducks

Poult Sci. 2024 Oct 31;103(12):104473. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104473. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Dongyue Sun¹, Congcong Xu², Yi Liu³, Zichun Dai⁴, Ziyi Pan⁴, Rong Chen⁴, Rihong Guo⁴, Fang Chen⁴, Zhendan Shi⁵, Shijia Ying⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China; Institute of Animal Science, Animal Husbandry Research Institute, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China.
² Institute of Animal Science, Animal Husbandry Research Institute, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, PR China.
³ Institute of Animal Science, Animal Husbandry Research Institute, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China; College of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China.
⁴ Institute of Animal Science, Animal Husbandry Research Institute, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China.
⁵ Institute of Animal Science, Animal Husbandry Research Institute, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China; Key Laboratory of Crop and Animal Integrated Farming, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, PR China.
⁶ College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China; Institute of Animal Science, Animal Husbandry Research Institute, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China; Key Laboratory of Crop and Animal Integrated Farming, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: ysj@jaas.ac.cn.

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of different relative humidity (RH) during 4-21d of Beijing ducks on their condition at 42 d. A total of 48 Pekin duck were randomly allotted into 4 treatments (A:RH60 %, B:RH67 %,C:RH74 %,D:RH81 %), each having 3 replicates of 4 ducks. Different humidity treatments were applied from 4 to 21 days. At 42 d, there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) among the 4 groups. Oblique body length in D was significantly higher than that in A (P < 0.05). Compared with A, the chest depth of the other groups was significantly increased, and the abdominal fat weight of B and C was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Liver weight and liver index in C and D significantly higher than that in B (p < 0.05). Abdominal fat ratio in B was significantly higher than that in A (P < 0.05). Cholesterol (CHOL) in D was significantly higher than that in A and C (P < 0.05), triglyceride (TG) in C was significantly higher than that in A and B (P < 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in B was significantly higher than that in A, C, and D (P < 0.05). pH in B was significantly higher than that in A (P < 0.05), brightness (L*) in A was significantly higher than that in B and C (P < 0.05), redness (a*) in B and C was significantly higher than that in A and D (P < 0.05), and yellowness (b*) in C was significantly lower than that in A and D (P < 0.05).The results indicate that the RH of environment during the brooding period has no impact on duck production performance but induces some oxidative stress damage and changes in meat quality. Additionally, ducks subjected to different RH treatments during the brooding period exhibit varying adaptability to the same environment as they mature.

Keywords: Meat quality; Pekin duck; Production performance; Relative humidity.