IMPACT OF ADDING Astragalus membranaceus POWDER IN PEKIN DUCKLINGS’ DIETS ON THE PERFORMANCE DURING THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF AGE | ||
| Zagazig Journal of Agricultural Research | ||
| Volume 52, Issue 4, July and August 2025, Pages 877-884 PDF (864 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/zjar.2025.451799 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Gehad A. Marawan* ; I.E. Ismail; M.M. Alagawany; M.S. El-Kholy | ||
| Poult. Dept., Fac. Agric., Zagazig Univ., Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| This study was designed to evaluate the effects of adding Astragalus membranaceus in Pekin ducklings’ diets at two levels (0.5 and 1.0 g/kg diet) on growth performance parameters of growing ducklings during the first two weeks of age. A total of 150 healthy one- day-old Pekin ducklings were randomly distributed into 3 experimental groups. Each group contained 5 replicates with 10 birds each. The first group received the standard diet with no supplementation, while the 2nd and 3rd groups received the standard diet supplemented with 0.5 and 1.0 g Astragalus membranaceus per kg diet, respectively. This study found that dietary supplementation with Astragalus membranaceus at 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg diet had no significant impact (P> 0.05) on the growth performance of Pekin ducklings during the first two weeks of age. Live body weight (LBW) at hatch and at the end of weeks 1 and 2 showed no significant differences among groups (P = 0.325, 0.964, and 0.442, respectively). Similarly, daily body weight gain (DBWG) during 0–1 week, 1–2 weeks, and the overall 0–2-week period was not significantly affected (P=0.823, 0.368, and 0.517, respectively) by dietary supplementation of Astragalus membranaceus. Daily feed intake (DFI) also remained statistically unchanged across all treatments (P = 0.429, 0.708, and 0.651), despite slight numerical increases in the supplemented groups. Furthermore, feed conversion ratio (FCR) during all intervals showed no significant variation among treatments (P = 0.313, 0.819, and 0.700). Overall, the inclusion of Astragalus membranaceus at these levels did not significantly affect growth, DFI, or FCR in young Pekin ducklings. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Dietary Astragalus supplementation; Pekin ducklings’ performance | ||
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