Effect of in-ovo administration with two levels of amino acids mixture on the performance of Muscovy ducks

Nutrient administration in-ovo could be considered as an alternative method to improve hatchability and duckling weight followed by better economic performance. On the 12th day of incubation, fertile duck eggs (n= 500) were distributed into 5 groups, each of 100. These were: un-injected control; 0.50 ml distilled water; 0.50 ml amino acids (AA) mixture; 0.75 ml distilled water; and 0.75 ml amino acids mixture. In-ovo injection of 0.50 ml but not 0.75 ml of AA mixture resulted in higher hatchability percentage than un-injected control; however this was not statistically confirmed. In-ovo injection of either 0.50 or 0.75 ml of AA mixture resulted in significantly (P 0.05) higher body weight at hatch, marketing weight for males not for females, and higher feed intake than the un-injected control. There was no significant difference (P 0.05) in feed conversion ratio between in-ovo amino acids ducks and un-injected control during the whole experimental periods. Liver weight as a percentage of body weight was higher (P 0.05) in the in-ovo amino acids injected groups than un-injected control. Lymphoid organs of 0.50 AA-injected male group and 0.75 ml AA-injected female group were significantly (P 0.05) heavier than the un-injected control. Antibodies titers did not differ (P 0.05) between in-ovo amino acids injected groups and un-injected control. It is concluded that in-ovo injection of amino acids mixture may improve and accelerate growth and post-hatch performance of Muscovy ducks.