Abstract:
Objective: To examine the effects of the salinity level of drinking water on the egg production and
quality of Alabio ducks.
Materials and Methods: A total of 60 female Alabio ducks, aged 6 months, were subjected to
this study. All ducks were kept in stage-type cages (1 m length × 1 m width × 0.5 m height), where
each cage was inhabited by 4 ducks for 56 days of experimentation. All ducks were offered a
mixed ration ad libitum for laying ducks, according to the nutritional requirements for egg-type
ducks. The treatment in this study was drinking water with five stratified salinity levels, namely P0
= freshwater (0% salinity); P1 = water with a salinity of 0.75 practical salinity unit (PSU) (equal to
0.75 g NaCl/l); P2 = water with a salinity of 1.5 PSU (1.5 gm/l); P3 = water with a salinity of 2.5 PSU
(2.5 gm/l); and P4 = water with a salinity of 3 PSU (3.0 gm/l). Observations were made on water
intake, feed intake, egg production, and egg quality (egg weight, egg shape index density, shell
proportion, shell thickness, yolk index, albumen index, and Haugh unit).
Results: The results showed that the difference in salinity levels in drinking water from 0.75 PSU
to 3 PSU did not affect water intake, feed intake, egg production, or egg quality of Alabio ducksfor
the first 56 days of the laying period (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: It was concluded that Alabio ducks have a good tolerance for drinking water salinity
of up to 3 PSU, or equal to 3 gm/l NaCl.
