Nutriphenomic Variations in Three Breeds of Ducks Fed Cocoa Pod Husk

Abstract

The science of nutriphenomics examines how a person's response to various nutrients and dietary components is influenced by genetic differences. Breeding plans that enhance these qualities in commercial duck populations can be developed by identifying genetic factors associated with improved growth and feed efficiency. Diets can be made more effectively and economically by knowing how certain strains handle particular feed ingredients, such as CPH.  This study evaluated the effect of Cocoa Pod Husk (CPH) on the performance and morphostructure of three breeds of broiler ducks (Muscovy, Mallard, and White Pekin) in a 12-week experiment. This study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. A total of eighty-day-old ducklings, with an average weight of 40.4g, were randomly distributed into five treatment groups. Each treatment group comprised consisted of three replicates, with fifteen ducklings allocated to each treatment and five ducklings per replicate. This distribution was done in a completely randomized randomised design (CRD). These ducklings were fed five dietary treatment groups of CPH: T1 (0%) as control, T2 (2.5%), T3 (5.0%), T4 (7.5%), and T5 (10%). Morphometric traits of the ducklings, such as body weight, length, and breast circumference, were recorded. Statistical analysis has indicated that the interaction between CPH inclusion rate and duck breed on growth performance was strongly significant.  The result of the treatment inclusion level (p<0.05) shows that there is no significant difference among the treatment for body weight however T1 performed better (1.61kg), the body length shows no significant difference for all treatment but was higher with T4 (60.93cm), the beak length shows considerable difference among the treatments with T2 having the highest value (6.53cm), the breast circumference and body integuments shows no significant difference among the treatments however T3 (18.56cm) performed better for breast circumference and T1 (36.76cm) performed better for body integuments. The result of morphometric parameters of the breeds shows that Muscovy leads in terms of body weight (1.47kg) and body length (60.61cm), White Pekin performed better in terms of beak length (6.75cm) and Malad performed better in terms of head length (8.00cm), breast circumference (18.81cm) and body integuments (35.31cm). Results showed that moderate levels of CPH inclusion maintained a similar growth rate but resulted in significantly improved feed cost-effectiveness. The Muscovy breed showed the highest adaptability to CPH-based diets with the least variability of morphometric traits between treatments, while the White Pekin showed the highest variability. Overall, the results of this investigation show that these impacts may result in increased animal performance and output. It can be concluded that variations exist in the performance and morphostructural characteristics of three breeds of ducks examined at different inclusion levels of CPH.