Muscovy duck reproductive characteristics

1? Performance

Muscovy ducks have different feather colors and different reproductive performance. The reproductive performance of Muscovy ducks with different feather colors is shown in Table 7?.

2?. Breed selection

Selecting excellent breeding ducks is very important to improve the production performance and economic benefits of Muscovy ducks. Under the same conditions of feeding and management, breeding ducks are excellent, can produce more meat and eggs, and have low feeding costs. Therefore, breeding selection is the first step in the process of raising ducks. Breeding ducks are required to have obvious breed characteristics, good development, and strong physique. Physical appearance is an important characteristic of the breed. The male Muscovy duck should be large in size, majestic in body, with well-developed anus, strong male, straight and wide back, and rectangular body. The female duck should be large, wide and round, with plump breasts, moderate fatness and thinness, thick and short feet, deep abdomen, and high egg production rate.

In addition, economic traits such as egg production rate, meat production rate, reproduction rate, growth rate, meat to feed ratio, slaughtering rate, liver to feed ratio, fertilization rate and egg hatching rate, duckling survival Comprehensive comparison of indicators such as rate and selection of the best species.

3?． Breeding age and proportion

The sexual maturity of Muscovy ducks in my country is 6 to 9 months, and the sexual maturity of male Muscovy ducks is later than that of female Muscovy ducks. The sexual maturity of French Muscovy ducks is relatively late, about one month later than the mating age of Chinese Muscovy ducks. In natural mating, the mating ratio of male and female Muscovy ducks is generally 1?:

7? to 8?, but it varies depending on the age of the month (Table 8).

4?． The useful life of breeding ducks

The useful life of Muscovy ducks is not long, and the useful life of male ducks is generally 1 to 1.5 years. After the breeding period of the first year, male ducks become physically weak and their breeding performance decreases. Therefore, in order to reduce feeding costs, it is best to eliminate them after one year. Male ducks should be selected for breeding every year. The useful life of female ducks is longer than that of male ducks, which can be used for 2 to 3 years. However, as the female Muscovy duck ages, her nesting ability increases and her egg-laying ability decreases. According to reports, in foreign countries, only 2 egg-laying cycles are generally used, and then they are eliminated and sold as commercial ducks. At this time, the meat value of the female Muscovy ducks is still good. The breeding density of breeding ducks is preferably 250 to 300 ducks in a group. In a group, 1-year-old female ducks account for 60% to 70%, and 2-year-old female ducks account for 20% to 30%.