Effect of Various Forms of Floor System on Performance of Meat-type Duck and Environments of Duck House

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of floor type and heating system on performance, housing environment and health status of ducks reared in three types of duck house (OD : Open floor house-Direct heating system, OF : Open floor house-Floor heating system and LD : Loft type house-Direct heating system). In OF treatment, PVC pipes were installed for heating under concrete floor and covered with litter. In LD treatment, plastic mesh was installed 50 cm above the floor so that duck's droppings can pass through it. Each treatment had four replicates of 25 birds (Cherry Valley duck breed) per pen. There were no significant differences in weight gain and feed intake of ducks for 6 weeks among all treatments. However, feed conversion ratio in LD was significantly higher (p0.05) than that in OF. No differences were found in carcass charac- teristics, with the exception of abdominal fat weight where OF were higher than the others. Concentrations of CO2 and NH3 gas in OD were higher than those of OF and LD at 3, 4 and 5 weeks. Moisture content in litter of OF was lower than that of OD. In contrast, the amount of dust in the air was higher in OF than in OD. The amount of fuel used for 6 weeks in LD was lower about 21% than that in OD. Some of unusual symptoms were observed in open floor house and loft type house, such as lying, spraddle legged, twisted ankle and legs, wounded sole, or etc. No components of leukocyte and erythrocyte of blood were significantly different among all treatments. The results of this experiment showed that OF and LD systems had no positive effects on performance of meat type commercial duck. However, there were some positive effects of certain house type for the improvement of environmental condition in duck house for hygienic production. In the future, more research on the effect of various facilities and systems for duck house is needed. (Key words : duck, performance, housing environment, floor heating system, loft type house)