The effects of feeding diets with ensiled maize grain on the production efficiency and meat characteristics of broiler ducks

Fatty acid	Group			SEM	P-value
Fatty acid	CON	CSMIX	CD+SG	SEM	P-value
C10:0 (%)	0.10^b	0.09^b	0.16^a	0.008	<0.001
C12:0 (%)	0.31^b	0.28^b	0.48^a	0.018	<0.001
C14:0 (%)	1.31^b	1.26^b	2.14^a	0.077	<0.001
C14:1 (%)	0.20^b	0.20^b	0.31^a	0.011	<0.001
C15:0 (%)	0.24^b	0.21^b	0.35^a	0.012	<0.001
C16:0 (%)	19.49^b	19.28^b	21.13^a	0.209	<0.001
C16:1n-7 (%)	1.87	1.99	2.03	0.038	0.237
C17:0 (%)	0.28	0.26	0.31	0.008	0.073
C17:1n-7 (%)	0.13^b	0.13^b	0.15^a	0.004	0.005
C18:0 (%)	13.87	13.48	13.86	0.179	0.607
C18:1n-9t (%)	25.69	27.49	26.95	0.363	0.112
C18:1n-9c (%)	1.97	1.90	17.15	5.057	0.377
C18:2n-6t (%)	0.18^a	0.15^b	0.18^a	0.004	0.005
C18:2n-6c (%)	19.29^a	17.89^a	14.54^b	0.451	<0.001
C18:3n3 (%)	0.80^a	0.69^b	0.62^b	0.017	<0.001
C20:0 (%)	0.17	0.15	0.18	0.005	0.084
C20:1n-9 (%)	0.46	0.46	0.45	0.008	0.777
C20:2 (%)	0.83^a	0.76^ab	0.67^b	0.021	0.008
C20:3n-3 (%)	0.67	0.67	0.64	0.011	0.362
C20:4n-6 (%)	8.52	9.02	8.74	0.168	0.489
C20:5n-3 (%)	0.09^b	0.10^b	0.15^a	0.006	<0.001
C21:0 (%)	0.12	0.13	0.15	0.006	0.077
C22:2 (%)	0.34^b	0.32^b	0.45^a	0.013	<0.001
C22:6n-3 (%)	0.66^ab	0.64^b	0.77^a	0.021	0.024
C24:0 (%)	0.05^b	0.04^b	0.06^a	0.003	0.001
C24:1n-9 (%)	2.36	2.42	2.41	0.045	0.842
SFA (%)	35.95^b	35.18^b	38.81^a	0.354	<0.001
MUFA (%)	32.69	34.59	34.27	0.366	0.071
PUFA (%)	31.37^a	30.24^a	26.74^b	0.495	<0.001
TFA (%)	25.88	27.65	27.13	0.360	0.117
α-tocopherol μg/100g	229.91	220.82	194.28	6.558	0.066
β+γ tocopherol μg/100g	32.94^a	25.48^b	28.64^ab	1.310	0.049
Retinol μg/100g	8.11	8.61	9.10	0.189	0.100

Growth performance of broiler ducks

Parameter		Group			SEM	P-value
Parameter		CON	CSMIX	CD+SG	SEM	P-value
Viability (%)		98.33	98.33	96.67	1.008	0.761
BW (g)	Day 1	58.28	57.10	55.70	1.050	0.631
	Day 28	1871.92^a	1850.62^a	1467.37^b	48.932	<0.001
	Day 49	3500.44^ab	3574.87^a	3367.78^b	36.010	0.048
GR (%)	Days 1–28	187.92^a	188.02^a	185.38^b	0.365	<0.001
	Days 29–49	60.73^b	63.52^b	78.59^a	2.051	<0.001
	Days 1–49	193.45	193.70	193.49	0.108	0.625
BWG (g)	Days 1–28	1813.64^a	1793.52^a	1411.67^b	48.539	<0.001
	Days 29–49	1628.51^b	1724.25^b	1900.41^a	35.603	0.001
	Days 1–49	3442.15^ab	3517.77^a	3312.08^b	35.587	0.047
FI (g)	Days 1–28	3444.53^b	3957.65^a	3353.18c	65.058	<0.001
	Feed	-	-	2429.18	-	-
	Silage	-	-	924.00	-	-
	Days 29–49	6395.16	6569.08	6346.75	51.793	0.410
	Feed	-	-	4890.70	-	-
	Silage	-	-	1456.05	-	-
	Days 1–49	9839.69^b	10526.73^a	9699.93^b	136.838	0.023
	Feed	-	-	7319.88
	Silage	-	-	2380.05
FCR (kg/kg)	Days 1–28	1.90c	2.21^b	2.38^a	0.051	<0.001
	Days 29–49	3.93^a	3.81^a	3.34^b	0.120	<0.001
	Days 1–49	2.86^b	2.99^a	2.93^a	0.033	0.048
EBI (points)		241.82^ab	265.41^a	223.17^b	5.820	0.004

Chemical composition of broiler duck feed and ensiled corn grain

Ingredient¹	Starter diet	Grower diet	Corn grain silage	80% starter diet and 20% silage	80% grower diet and 20% silage
Dry matter (g/kg feed)	895.03	892.00	601.70	836.37	833.94
Crude ash (g/kg dry matter)	53.91	50.13	26.48	48.42	45.40
Total protein	219.71	200.51	142.61	204.29	188.93
Crude fat	37.24	36.71	64.82	42.75	42.33
Crude fibre	49.89	53.66	104.54	60.82	63.59
ADF	294.22	77.87	383.29	312.04	138.96
NDF	390.88	274.27	548.09	422.32	329.04
ADL	97.94	15.73	101.44	98.64	32.87
Gross energy (MJ/kg dry matter)	18.64	18.63	28.83	20.68	20.67

Physicochemical properties of broiler duck pectoral and leg muscles

	Parameter	Group			SEM	P-value
	Parameter	CON	CSMIX	CD+SG	SEM	P-value
Pectoral muscle	pH_{24 hours}	5.98	6.01	5.60	0.320	0.428
	Drip loss %	2.09	2.20	1.82	0.250	0.623
	WHC %Colour	36.38	35.90	35.33	0.173	0.799
	^L*	37.03	38.34	37.01	0.085	0.150
	^a*	16.03	15.77	16.67	0.013	0.323
	^b*	2.11	2.49	1.92	0.014	0.401
	Protein g/100 g muscle	23.01^a	22.55^b	22.26^b	0.043	0.001
	Collagen g/100 g muscle	1.33	1.28	1.29	0.078	0.289
	Salt g/100 g muscle	0.38^a	0.27^b	0.37^a	0.605	<0.001
	IMF g/100 g muscle	1.15^b	1.07^b	1.50^a	0.454	<0.001
	Water g/100 g muscle	74.89^b	75.46^a	74.80^b	0.324	<0.001
Leg muscle	WHC %Colour	32.04	31.27	28.73	0.232	0.061
	^L*	36.73	37.38	38.32	0.143	0.368
	^a*	15.46	15.00	14.95	0.052	0.788
	^b*	2.83	2.93	3.09	0.033	0.903
	Protein g/100 g muscle	20.16^a	19.40^b	19.38^b	0.138	0.033
	Collagen g/100 g muscle	1.95^a	1.71^ab	1.54^b	0.131	0.003
	Salt g/100 g muscle	0.82	0.69	0.65	0.141	0.085
	IMF g/100 g muscle	5.16	5.52	4.98	0.161	0.266
	Water g/100 g muscle	72.51	72.41	72.71	0.621	0.650

Fatty acid profile and vitamin content of intramuscular fat in broiler duck pectoral muscles

Fatty acid	Group			SEM	P-value
Fatty acid	CON	CSMIX	CD+SG	SEM	P-value
C10:0 (%)	0.10^ab	0.09^b	0.12^a	0.004	0.002
C12:0 (%)	0.30^a	0.21^b	0.35^a	0.014	<0.001
C14:0 (%)	1.33^b	1.23^b	1.70^a	0.068	0.008
C14:1n-5 (%)(%)	0.19^ab	0.17^b	0.23^a	0.009	0.032
C15:0 (%)	0.24^ab	0.22^b	0.29^a	0.011	0.015
C16:0 (%)	21.94	22.02	22.64	0.170	0.185
C16:1n-7 (%)	1.23	1.19	1.41	0.044	0.089
C17:0 (%)	0.31	0.29	0.30	0.007	0.506
C17:1n-7 (%)	0.13	0.11	0.12	0.005	0.431
C18:0 (%)	14.47	14.30	13.99	0.135	0.339
C18:1n-9t (%)	19.22^b	19.59^b	21.93^a	0.372	0.003
C18:1n-9c (%)	2.13	2.07	2.00	0.027	0.177
C18:2n-6t (%)	0.15^a	0.12^b	0.13^b	0.004	0.003
C18:2n-6c (%)	18.77^a	18.51^a	16.85^b	0.242	0.001
C18:3n-3 (%)	0.54	0.51	0.53	0.010	0.564
C20:0 (%)	0.25^a	0.24^ab	0.22^b	0.005	0.041
C20:1n-9 (%)	0.48	0.46	0.45	0.011	0.666
C20:2 (%)	1.25^a	1.24^a	0.95^b	0.031	<0.001
C20:3n-3 (%)	1.17^a	1.20^a	1.02^b	0.022	0.001
C20:4n-6 (%)	11.66	12.06	11.05	0.243	0.234
C20:5n-3 (%)	0.09	0.10	0.10	0.003	0.456
C21:0 (%)	0.12^a	0.08^b	0.13^a	0.006	<0.001
C22:2 (%)	0.70^a	0.75^a	0.50^b	0.022	<0.001
C22:6n-3 (%)	0.62	0.61	0.62	0.017	0.986
C24:0 (%)	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.001	0.208
C24:1n-9 (%)	2.56	2.57	2.32	0.049	0.057
SFA (%)	39.12	38.73	39.80	0.198	0.078
MUFA (%)	25.94^b	26.16^b	28.46^a	0.378	0.007
PUFA (%)	34.94^a	35.11^a	31.74^b	0.411	<0.001
TFA (%)	19.37^b	19.71^b	22.05^a	0.371	0.003
α-tocopherol μg/100g	319.09^a	317.57^a	274.47^b	8.265	0.039
β+γ tocopherol μg/100g	41.33^a	34.91^b	32.68^b	1.086	0.002
Retinol μg/100g	10.28	9.26	10.72	0.308	0.140

Estimated costs of feeding ducks

Item per 1 duck (PLN)	Group			SEM	P-value
Item per 1 duck (PLN)	CON	CSMIX	CD+SG	SEM	P-value
Starter costs (days 1–28)	8.54^a	8.62^a	6.92^b	0.191	<0.001
Grower costs (days 29–49)	15.16^a	13.73^b	13.00^c	0.229	<0.001
Total cost of feeding	23.70^a	22.35^b	19.92^c	0.386	<0.001

Broiler duck carcass composition

Parameter	Group			SEM	P-value
Parameter	CON	CSMIX	CD+SG	SEM	P-value
Slaughter yield g/100 g pre-slaughter body weight	72.07	73.39	71.99	0.277	0.065
Slaughter yield with offal g/100 g pre-slaughter body weight	77.29^b	78.81^a	77.53^ab	0.264	0.036
Heart g/100 g carcass with offal	0.69	0.68	0.69	0.013	0.934
Liver g/100 g carcass with offal	2.69^b	2.67^b	3.24^a	0.084	0.005
Gizzard g/100 g carcass with offal	3.39	3.54	3.21	0.074	0.214
Neck g/100 g carcass with offal	7.15	7.07	7.01	0.147	0.932
Pectoral muscle g/100 g carcass	22.65^a	21.71^ab	20.94^b	0.272	0.031
Leg muscle g/100 g carcass	13.44	13.21	13.14	0.199	0.824
Total muscle g/100 g carcass	36.09^a	34.92^ab	34.09^b	0.317	0.029
Skin with subcutaneous fat g/100 g carcass	16.91^b	18.92^ab	19.66^a	0.448	0.030
Abdominal fat g/100 g carcass	0.78	0.85	0.89	0.063	0.759
Total fatness g/100 g carcass	17.69^b	19.77^ab	20.55^a	0.494	0.046
Wings with skin g/100 g carcass	12.27	11.88	11.83	0.138	0.366
Carcass remains g/100 g carcass	24.64	24.49	23.62	0.366	0.486

Broiler duck intestinal digesta viscosity

Digestive organ	Group			SEM	P-value
Digestive organ	CON (cP)	CSMIX (cP)	CD+SG (cP)	SEM	P-value
Jejunum	3.68^ab	3.25^b	4.21^a	0.128	0.005
Ileum	4.58^b	4.82^b	6.33^a	0.220	0.003

Fatty acids profile and vitamins in broiler duck feed

Item	Starter diet (%)	Grower diet (%)	Corn grain silage (%)	80% starter diet and 20% silage (%)	80% grower diet and 20% silage (%)
C10:0	0.038	0.035	0.097	0.037	0.047
C12:0	0.298	0.358	0.213	0.310	0.329
C14:0	0.703	0.670	0.875	0.696	0.711
C14:1n-5	0.113	0.108	0.110	0.112	0.108
C15:0	0.122	0.118	0.168	0.121	0.128
C16:0	14.097	14.450	12.083	14.168	13.977
C16:1n-7	0.938	1.292	0.357	1.009	1.105
C17:0	0.140	0.143	0.193	0.141	0.153
C17:1n-7	0.088	0.105	0.077	0.091	0.099
C18:0	3.263	3.052	2.778	3.221	2.997
C18:1n-9t	25.138	26.538	24.783	25.418	26.187
C18:1n-9c	1.268	1.760	0.720	1.366	1.552
C18:2n-6t	0.000	0.000	3.412	0.000	0.682
C18:2n-6c	48.787	46.010	49.533	48.232	46.715
C18:3n-3	2.877	3.097	0.715	2.921	2.621
C20:0	0.307	0.285	0.505	0.303	0.329
C20:1n-9	0.575	0.638	1.837	0.588	0.878
C20:2	0.122	0.158	0.053	0.129	0.137
C20:3n-3	0.035	0.048	0.000	0.038	0.038
C20:3n-6	0.073	0.082	0.000	0.075	0.066
C20:4n-6	0.125	0.153	0.085	0.131	0.139
C20:5n-3	0.000	0.028	0.000	0.006	0.022
C21:0	0.047	0.055	0.218	0.049	0.088
C22:0	0.288	0.223	0.182	0.275	0.215
C22:2	0.078	0.102	0.450	0.083	0.172
C22:6n-3	0.125	0.127	0.123	0.125	0.126
C23:0	0.062	0.055	0.032	0.061	0.050
C24:0	0.195	0.173	0.215	0.191	0.181
C24:1n-9	0.107	0.127	0.152	0.111	0.132
SFA	19.557	19.623	17.558	19.570	19.210
MUFA	28.285	30.567	28.067	28.741	30.067
PUFA	52.095	49.933	54.352	51.663	50.817
TFA	25.138	26.538	28.193	25.418	26.869
α-tocopherol μg/100g	2752.495	2264.428	161.398	2654.882	1843.822
β+γ tocopherol μg/100g	1567.155	1126.695	1069.895	1479.063	1115.335
β-carotene μg/100g	31.695	17.580	117.667	28.872	37.597
Retinol μg/100g	173.805	130.527	14.370	165.149	107.296

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2026-0020 | Journal eISSN: 2450-8608

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Language: English

Page range: 279 - 292

Submitted on: Jul 21, 2025

Accepted on: Apr 10, 2026

Published on: Apr 16, 2026

Published by: National Veterinary Research Institute in Pulawy

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

ducks,

Related subjects:

Microbiology and virology,

Life sciences,

Life sciences, other

© 2026 Bartosz Bigorowski, Sebastian Wlaźlak, Izabela Narloch, Szymon Różański, published by National Veterinary Research Institute in Pulawy
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 70 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)