Nutritional and physiological status of foraging ducks

Nutritional and physiological status of foraging ducks in the harvested paddy fields in Kerala was assessed by collecting crop contents and blood samples of 30 ducks from three foraging regions, namely Kuttanad, Palakkad and Thrissur. Preliminary examination of the crop contents revealed that the contents were paddy grains, crabs, snails and worms and some weeds. Some of the crop samples contained paddy grains, crabs, snails and worms, while some other samples contained paddy grains alone depending on the foraging area. Among the total crop samples collected, the per cent mean value of paddy grains accounted to 64.01±4.93. Per cent content of crab was 23.15±4.63, snail 4.07±0.83, worms 2.02±0.48 and weeds was 6.75±1.87. Analysis of chemical composition of the crop samples revealed that moisture content varied between 41.0 to 53.0 per cent. The mean crude protein content among samples ranged from 10.2 to 17.5 per cent, crude fibre from 11.3 to 19.8 per cent, ether extract from 1.8 to 3.7 per cent and total ash from 9.5 to 17.0 per cent. The mean percentage of fibre fractions viz., Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) were ranged between 28.1 to 39.5 and 12.7 to 23.4 per cent, respectively. The results indicated that the availability of nutrients from foraging feed resources is widely variable. The feed of the foraging ducks contained more fibre that can be efficiently utilized by them as evidenced by ability to maintain high egg production in the foraging conditions. Hemoglobin, plasma total protein, lipids and total cholesterol were analyzed to assess the physiological status of the foraging ducks. The blood parameters of foraging ducks of 38–44 weeks of age revealed that mean hemoglobin content of the foraging ducks was 12.85±0.20 g/dl. The biochemical analysis of the plasma showed that the total protein, cholesterol and total lipid values were 3.85±0.12 g/dl, 184.52±2.46 and 764.15±7.04 mg/dl, respectively. It gives a positive indication of the physiological well being of foraging ducks in different areas of the State.