Khaki Cambell Duck
Ours is a river irrigated country. It has a lot of ponds, ditch, canals, lakes etc. There are large kinds of ducks. Among them Khaki Cambell duck, Indian Runner duck are notable in the south-east Asia. These hybrid duck lay about 300 eggs every year. For this reason duck farming is increasing than that of poultry day by day. These are because-
- Duck eggs are bigger than that of poultry.
- Duck lay 40-50 eggs more than that of poultry.
- Duck does not need so much care than that of poultry.
- Duck house do not need so neat and clean than that of poultry.
- Duck possesses fewer diseases than that of poultry.
- Duck is very cleaver than that of poultry so they can transmit between houses and ponds easily.
- Duck lay eggs for 2 years which is more than that of poultry.
- Duck lay eggs in the morning so it need less time to collect.
- We can make farm on the bank of river, side of the ponds and damp land that are low priced land.
- Duck collect food (snails, clams, fish, insects etc.) from ditch, canal, drain and low land that save food cost.
- Duck eat many kinds of insects that transmit diseases. So they improve our environment.
Housing:
In order to protect from fox, weasel, tit, natural calamities and thieves, they need safety houses. They can’t tolerate severe temperature. So we have to notice about the temperature of the house. We have to be careful the following things when we make house.
- Selection of place: Its house will be airy and lighted. So the place of the house will be open. It will be located apart from town or dense locality. The house will be open so that air and light can pass through the house at an open place. The farms will in such a place that mud is sandy, drain can easily make and where grass can grow easily. Big tree can’t stay in a farm. It is apart from poultry farm so that diseases can’t contaminate easily.
- Sample of house: The shape and area of house depends on the number of ducks. Small house is needed for a few numbers of ducks and large house is needed for huge number of ducks. But long, narrow and rectangle house is suitable for ducks. We have to shade the house in such a way that severe temperature can’t posses in the house.
Management of houses:
- Temperature: Generally 12.80C (550F) – 23.90C (750F) temperature is suitable for ducks. But lower 4.40C (400F) and greater 37.80C (1000F) temperature is harmful.
- Humidity: Generally natural weather is suitable for physical growth, hair growing and eggs production. Further artificial environment harms the eggs production. 70% humidity is suitable for ducks. Less than 30% humidity causes hair falling and greater than 70% humidity causes Coccidian and worm then they seem unstable. So then we have to dry the litter and airy the house.
- Light (Artificial): Artificial light helps the duck in physical growth, intercourse and eggs production. Baby duck need artificial light at the age of 6 weeks at night. As a result they eat much food and they physically grow easily. The ducks which lay eggs need 14-16 hours light a day. For this one 60 watt bulb need for 300 sq. ft. area. For broiler ducks need all night light.
- Ventilation: 40% of walls require wire net or bamboo sticks fence so that air can blow easily through the house.
- Floor: We have to take attention that the floor of the house is not damp and rat can’t enter into the house. Baby ducks need net floor up to 7-8 weeks age and aged ducks need concrete floor (terrace floor) floor.
- Bed: We have to spread the object (liter) on the floor that can absorb humidity. We can use straw, rice husk and wood powder as a litter.
- Water: They need sufficient pure drinking water.
Care of eggs: Collecting eggs from the house in basket or tray we have to clean the eggs with warm water or series paper.
Reservation of eggs:
- With lime water:We have to mix 1 kg. Lime water with 20 liters fresh water for 10 minutes. Then we have to pouring the upper clean water and then put down eggs under the water for two months can save.
Maintenance of child ducks: We have to maintain Campbell ducks child on net. The net is 1 – 1.5 foot high from the floor. So the flux can remove easily. As a result, the child ducks supper from less disease.
For first few days Campbell ducks child need to control the temperature. They need 300 C (850 F) – 320 C (900 F). Then 2.80 C (50 F) temperature heat will reduce every week until the temperature become at 240 C (750 F). In summer we have to control temperature 3 – 4 weeks and in winter 6 – 8 weeks. In 20 – 25 days child ducks may be on the floor. Before the floor we have to spread dry rice husk or dry wood powder with 5-7 cm. deep on the floor. The concrete floor (terrace floor) floor is better for this purpose. The floor should not wet with dam or any other causes. If we have turn over the litter 2/3 times every weak and mix them with lime. So litter will be dry, free of germ and bad smell. We shall be careful so that rain water and drinker water can’t mix with litter. If so then we have to change it with dry litter.
| Age | Area for eggs production (square foot) | Area for meat production (square foot) |
| 0 – 1 | 0.25 | 0.25 |
| 1 – 2 | 0.33 | 0.50 |
| 2 – 3 | 0.50 | 0.60 – 0.70 |
| 3 – 4 | 0.60 | 0.75 – 1.00 |
| 4 – 8 | 0.75 – 1.00 | 1.00 – 1.50 |
| 8 – 12 | 1.00 – 0.50 | 1.50 – 2.00 |
| 12 – above | 2.00 – 3.00 | 3.00 – 4.00 |
We can save a lot of savings if we rear them on the pond. Because they eat aquatic plant pest-insects, fish eggs, small fishes, oyster, snail, geri etc. We have to give them full of food if we rearing them in intake system. It will take 4 – 5 kg of balanced diet every duck for 8 weeks and 12.5 kg for 20 weeks.
A full aged duck takes 130 – 150 gm of food regularly. They should feed always splash. In this system food waste is less and they can take food easily.
Food feeding rate of Khaki Campbell duck:
| Age (weeks) | Rates (times per day) |
| 0 – 4 | 4 |
| 4 – 8 | 3 |
| 8+ | 2 |
Feeding area per child duck:
| Age (weeks) | Area (Inch per child) |
| 0 – 2 | 0.50 |
| 2 – 4 | 0.75 |
| 4 – 7 | 1.50 |
Balanced diet of duck:
To get eggs from Campbell Duck we should feed them balanced diet. We can make this balanced diet easily. The prices are very cheap. We can believe that we feed them good food.
Rules for creating balanced diet:
We can make balanced diet by mixing ingredients as following method-
| Ingredients | Percent |
| Wheat | 30 |
| Broken rice | 40 |
| Black sesame cake | 10 |
| Soybean cake | 10 |
| Dried fish powder | 8 |
| Broken oyster | 2 |
We have to mix 10 gm of vitamin A, B2, D3, E, K and 50 gm chlorine chloride with 100 kg of food. We feed them chlorine chloride for growing up and cockcidiostat for cockcidia dieses when they are at age of 6 – 8 weeks. We give them cockcidiostat up to 12 weeks of age. Then we give them oyster instate of dried fish. This saves expenditure.
Diseases of Khaki Campbell Ducks:
This kind of duck has less disease. This disease depends on the care of farm workers. If the workers take care in scientific ways and feed them balanced diet then they have very less disease. But workers should vaccinate them two diseases such as Duck-plague and Duck- Cholera.
