I am raising muscovy ducks now. For your reference, the cost of muscovy duck breeding is about 70% like most poultry, and feed is the key cost. The average 150-day-old adult drake weighs about 4. 5 kg, about 2 kg for adult female ducks. 2 Jin. The market price varies with region, market situation and muscovy duck age.

Muscovy ducks are native to tropical areas and have poor cold tolerance. After artificial breeding, it still maintains the characteristics of liking temperature, so it is raised in the south of China. In recent years, feeding management methods and feeding techniques have been continuously improved, indoor feeding or plastic greenhouse feeding in the north has been successful, and the spawning and growth rate can reach the level of feeding in the south, creating conditions for popularizing feeding in the north.

Muscovy duck is a hybrid of common domestic duck, which is called mule duck, or semi-muscovy duck. It is between domestic duck and muscovy duck and has no skin tumor. Hybrid offspring have strong heterosis. It has the characteristics of roughage resistance, high feed utilization rate, fast weight gain, good meat quality, strong vitality and easy feeding management. There is no significant difference in body weight between male and female ducks, which can be used as commercial meat ducks or cultured for duck fatty liver production. However, the cross fertilization rate is low, about 65%, which affects the large-scale feeding to some extent. The laying rate of female duck is higher than that of female muscovy duck, so it is generally better to cross male muscovy duck with female muscovy duck, and its laying rate is higher than that of male muscovy duck and female muscovy duck. Muscovy duck is a distant hybrid of different genera and species, so its offspring mule duck is infertile. Crossbreeding generally adopts natural mating, which is suitable for small group reproduction, and the male-female ratio is 1: 4.

In China, muscovy ducks can be raised in a wide area, especially in the south.

Muscovy duck morphology

Muscovy ducks belong to the family Anatidae, but their body shape and appearance are very different from those of ordinary domestic ducks. Muscovy ducks are bigger than domestic ducks. The body is long and wide, narrow from front to back and spindle-shaped. When standing, the body is almost horizontal to the ground, while the domestic duck is at an angle of 45. Muscovy ducks have a thick neck and a row of feathers on their heads, which will stand up when stimulated. The beak is short and narrow. There are red or black sarcomas around the methyl part of the mouth and eyes. Male muscovy ducks are more developed than female muscovy ducks, and gradually expand to the top of head and neck with age. The chest is flat and broad. The chest and legs are muscular, the wings are long, big and powerful, and they have certain flying ability. Legs are short and thick, webbed, and gait is stable. Feathers are plump and shiny. Muscovy duck's feather color has two primary colors, black and white, black and white, brown, a small amount of silver gray, black muscovy duck beak red with black spots, skin tumor black and red; White duck beak pink, skin tumor bright red; The black-and-white feather duck has a red beak with black spots and a red tumor on its skin. Muscovy ducks hiss in a low voice. Mother ducks often make noises when they hatch.

Life habits of muscovy ducks

1. Adaptability

Muscovy duck is native to tropical areas, with strong heat resistance, but not cold tolerance, and is suitable for breeding in southern China. In the north, you can also raise plastic greenhouses or have insulation conditions.

Muscovy duck's wings are long and powerful, and it has certain flying ability, but it can't fly high or far.

Muscovy duck has strong adaptability, gentle temperament, stable gait and slow movement. It doesn't like swimming in the water for a long time, is drought-tolerant, easy to fatten and suitable for house feeding on land, so some people call it "dry duck".

2. Eating habits

Muscovy ducks have a wide range of feeding habits, are resistant to rough feeding, and are not strict in feed requirements. They can eat a variety of plant and animal feeds. Young ducks like to eat soft particles, such as rice. After hatching 12 hours, feeding began.

3. Production performance

Muscovy ducks grow very fast. Newborn ducklings weigh 40 grams; At the age of 90 days, the weight of drake can reach 1. 5 kg, the female duck is 1. 3 Jin. 1.20 days old, the male duck can reach 1. 8 kg, the female duck is 1. 4 Jin. Adult drakes weigh about 4. 5 kg, the largest can reach 5 kg, and the adult female duck weighs about 2. 2 Jin. The mother ducks began to give birth at the age of 160 ~ 180 days. There are two spawning periods every year, and 80 ~ 120 eggs are laid every year. The breeding conditions are good, and it can produce 150. The egg weighs 65 ~ 80g, and the shell is jade white. The qualified rate of breeding eggs is high, the size is uniform, and there are few damaged eggs and deformed eggs. When the mating ratio is 1 male and 7 females, the fertilization rate is 85% ~ 95%, and the hatching rate of fertilized eggs is 80% ~ 85%.

Muscovy ducks have a high slaughter rate. Under general feeding conditions, the semi-clean chamber of adult male ducks can reach 865438 0%, and the full clean chamber is 74%. But the slaughter rate is related to the slaughter age sooner or later. When the slaughter age increases, the proportion of valuable parts in the carcass, such as breast meat, will decrease. Dean measured the relationship between the slaughter amount of muscovy ducks at different weeks and breast meat, leg meat and subcutaneous fat, and the results are listed in Table 6.

Table 6 Effects of different slaughter weeks on lean meat and subcutaneous fat

Muscovy ducks also have good fatty liver performance. After 2 ~ 3 weeks of artificial forced feeding, the weight of each duck liver can reach 300 ~ 400 grams. Moreover, muscovy ducks gain weight faster after feeding.

Another feature of muscovy ducks is that if the growth rate of ducklings is lower than the normal standard due to poor feed conditions in the early stage of growth, the feeding management can be improved in the later stage, and the normal weight gain standard can still be achieved at the end of feeding. In other words, muscovy ducks have the ability to balance the early growth rate.

Reproductive characteristics of muscovy ducks

perform

Muscovy ducks with different feather colors have different reproductive performance. The reproductive performance of muscovy ducks with different coat colors is shown in Table 7.

Select seeds

Selecting excellent breeding ducks is very important to improve the production performance and economic benefits of muscovy ducks. Under the same feeding and management conditions, the ducks are excellent, produce more meat and eggs, and have low feeding cost. Therefore, breeding is the first step in the process of raising ducks. Breeding ducks requires obvious breed characteristics, good development and strong physique. Appearance is an important feature of varieties. Male Muscovy Duck should be big, dignified, with developed penis, strong male, straight and wide back and rectangular body. The mother duck should be big, wide and round, with full chest, moderate fat and thin, short feet, deep abdomen and high egg laying rate.

In addition, comprehensive comparison should be made according to the economic characteristics such as egg laying rate, meat production rate, reproduction rate, birth length, meat-feed ratio, slaughter rate, liver-feed ratio, fertilization rate, hatching rate of breeding eggs and survival rate of ducklings.

3. Mating age and proportion

The sexual maturity of muscovy ducks in China is from 6 to 9 months old, and the sexual maturity of male muscovy ducks is later than that of female muscovy ducks. French muscovy ducks have a late sexual maturity, about 1 month later than China muscovy ducks. In natural mating, the mating ratio of male and female muscovy ducks is generally 1: 7 ~ 8, but it varies with the age of the month (Table 8).

4. Utilization years of breeding ducks

The utilization period of muscovy ducks is not long, and that of male ducks is generally 1 ~ 1.5 years. After breeding for one year, drakes are weak and their reproductive performance declines. Therefore, in order to reduce the feeding cost, it is best to eliminate it with 1 year, and drakes should be selected every year. The utilization period of female duck is longer than that of male duck, and it can be used for 2 ~ 3 years. However, with the increase of age, the nesting ability of female muscovy ducks increases and the egg laying ability decreases. According to reports, foreign countries generally only use two egg laying cycles, and then they are eliminated and sold as commercial ducks. At this time, the meat value of the female muscovy duck is still good. The breeding density of breeding ducks should be 250 ~ 300 in a group. In a flock of chickens, 1 year-old ducks account for 60% ~ 70%, and 2-year-old ducks account for 20% ~ 30%.