Lysine Requirement of Male White Pekin Ducklings from Seven to Twenty-one Days of Age

A dose-response experiment with five lysine levels (0.65, 0.80, 0.95, 1.10, and 1.25%) was conducted to evaluate the lysine requirement of male White Pekin ducklings from 7 to 21 days of age. Two hundred and eighty, 7-day-old, male White Pekin ducklings were allocated to 5 experimental treatments, each containing 8 replicate pens with 7 birds per pen. Feed and water were provided ad libitum from 7 to 21 days of age. At 21 days of age, weight gain, feed intake, feed/gain, breast meat weight, and breast meat yield relative to body weight of ducklings from each pen were all measured. As dietary lysine level increased, weight gain, feed intake, feed/gain, breast meat weight, and breast meat yield of ducklings were all improved significantly (p<0.05). According to broken-line regression analysis, the lysine requirement of male White Pekin ducklings from 7 to 21 days of age for weight gain, feed/gain, breast meat weight, and breast meat yield was 0.84, 0.90, 0.97, and 0.98%, respectively. Considering that Pekin duck production is directed to meat production, the lysine requirement of male starter Pekin ducklings during this period is suggested to be 0.98%.