Duck Rearing as Potential Tool to Reduce Unemployment & Poverty in Rural Households in India
In India, there is a variety of poultry species that farmers can practice for their livelihood. Farming of chicken, turkeys, pigeon, ostrich, guinea fowl and quail is very common. One of the most popular poultry farming presents in the country is chicken to fulfil the demand for meat and eggs. Besides this, duck farming is also becoming one of the most widely used methods of poultry in India. Ducks are considered more productive than chickens. They yield about 25 eggs that are 10-15 gm greater than chicken eggs.Furthermore, they are more prolific than chicken that makes duck farming more common in European and Asian countries.
The domestic rearing of ducks for food purpose can be traced back at historic times. In recent year duck farming has gradually grown and become a serious segment in poultry meat industry especially in Asia. The changing lifestyle, food consumption pattern, tastes preference of the consumer bringing the duck food in front line in their menu. With the increasing demand for poultry meat in this part of world, the duck industry has commenced to follow the same pattern of broiler industry. More specialized business venture are been established along with the marketing use of modern production facilities as well as up-to-date processing plants and products marketing strategies.
Duck has been appreciated for its taste and nutritional qualities by most of the meat loving population. Today duckling is in high demand in the whole world especially in Asian countries. The preference of duck meat depends upon the breed of duck and the method of preparation which varies widely depending upon region and the demand of the consumers. In Northern America, parts of Europe, Australia and in many other areas as well, roasted duckling are a very popular item. Roast, braised or barbecued duck are few of the popular duck cuisine around the world. More recently duck parts, such as breast and legs have become more available, which offer more options for diet conscious consumers. Precooked duck parts which can be quickly heated in a microwave are also becoming more available and popular. China is by far the leading country for duck production with an annual production of about 75% of all duck slaughtered and about 66% of all duck meat produced in the world (FAO, 2018) followed by France.
Ducks are tough animals and good scavengers. They are easier and cheaper to keep than chickens. This makes duck keeping for the production of eggs and meat an attractive enterprise about 700 million ducks are kept around the world, the majority of these more than 500million are found in Asia. Despite this uneven distribution, it is certainly also possible to raise ducks in parts of the worlds, including Africa and Latin America. Ducks can be reared for eggs and meat, for own use or for sale. Other products from ducks which can also be sold include down feathers and fattened livers. There are many similarities between chicken and duck rearing. The most obvious similarities are found in the type of the products for which these forms of poultry we kept duck, like chicken are good producers of eggs and meat.
Duck farming in India
Duck farming is becoming an emerging sector in India. Similar to chicken, duck farming has a significant contribution to the country’s poultry production. Ducks form about 10 percent of the total poultry population in India, with a contribution of 7 to 8 percent in the country’s total egg production.
Duck Farming in Indian Scenario
The total poultry has increased by 16.81% and therefore the total poultry is 851.81 million during 2019. Backyard poultry increase over 45.78% and total backyard poultry is 317.07 Million in 2019. The commercial poultry has increased by 4.5% and the total commercial poultry is 534.74 million (20th Livestock Census, 2019) [9] . According to the data shown in census backyard poultry birds number has risen by a staggering 46 per cent between 2012 to 2019. And these poultry birds include fowls, ducks, emu, turkeys, quail and oher birds. In the commercial farms which are typically located near urban areas, number of poultry birds has risen by 4.5 per cent during the same period. As per FAO (FAO, 2010) [10] statistics, production of the duck meat increased from 0.026 million tonnes to 0.15 m tonnes, recording 577 percent increase in rate of growth, in 20 years. The current report on main duck meat producer countries indicates that, eight countries from Asia are among the top fifteen countries worldwide (FAO, 2010)10. The distribution and demographic dynamics of duck population revealed that they are concentrated in Eastern, North eastern and Southern states of the country. The leading states in duck population are West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, UP, Bihar and Orissa (D. Narhari, 2009) [3] . Duck farming in India is characterized by nomadic, extensive, seasonal, and remains held within the hands of small and marginal farmers and nomadic tribes. Traditionally West Bengal and Kerala are the main consumer states for duck egg and meat and one among the explanations is that duck egg and meat highly suits and remains tastier for their fish based culinary preparations. Duck farming on small scale has been practiced for many years among rural communities for livelihoods and prevalent among weaker sections of rural population which provides them supplementary and steady income and employmentand also provides nutritive duck eggs and meat for family consumption.
Traditionally, West Bengal and Kerala were considered as the largest states for consuming duck meat and eggs. Out of 15 million duck population, West Bengal leads the list, followed by Assam, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. A few years back, ducks were reared only by marginal farmers in southern and eastern coastal areas, north-eastern India and Jammu & Kashmir. The reasons behind keeping ducks for these farmers vary from breeding to fulfilling the purpose of meat and eggs to keeping down the fly population on a farm having livestock. Duck farming plays a crucial part within the agricultural economy in Asian continent which alone accounts for 82.6% of the entire duck meat production of world (Jha and Chakrabarti, 2017) [1]. The duck meat and eggs are relished and consumed by people worldwide. Intensive awareness to empower rural households for duck farming to extend duck egg and meat on commercial aspects by rural household production is prerequisite (Adzitey and Adzitey, 2011) [2]. Duck rising may be a lucrative livestock industry within the globe due to its egg, meat and feather. Ducks are reared for eggs and meat production like chicken. Duck rising may be a lucrative livestock industry within the globe due to its egg, meat and feather. Ducks are reared for eggs and meat and feather production like chicken. Duck eggs are relatively larger, weighing about 4.5% of duck’s weight, compared to chicken, whose egg weight is merely about 3.3% of the hen’s weight (D. Narhari, 2009) [3]. The duck farming has the potential and may take the advantage to interact rural people in duck production and that they must tend adequate training for duck farming. It is an important tool for alleviating poverty among the rural communities and has great potentials in tribal area. These potentials can be tapped to reduce poverty among rural households or communities (Jha and Chakrabarti, 2017) . As compare to chicken ducks are more prolific and more adaptable to free-range system of rearing. They also grow faster than chicken. That is why; they are more popular in many European and Asian countries. They need simple housing, compared to chicken (D. S. Rajput, et al., 2014) . In India poor village people can rear ducks easily. Most of the farmers don’t give any supplemental diets to their ducks. Generally they can get maximum return by giving minimum supplemental diets to their ducks. On the other hand improved feeding system of scavenging ducks was suggested by (Haque et al., 1991) to achieve optimum production.
Backyard poultry farmers emphasising duck farming
Duck farming provides a profitable business idea to poultry farmers around the world. The availability of duck breeds and convenience in raising them for meat and eggs makes poultry farmers focus on backyard duck farming. Starting a commercial duck farming business also depends on the factor that ducks can feed on agro-industrial wastes. Further, they can survive in marshy areas and in the areas where no agricultural crops can be grown which makes it easy for poultry and other farmers to shift to commercial duck farming for adding an additional source of income.
Farm size
This business starts with determining the farm size which is typically measured by the number of ducks that can be reared. Since ducks are less demanding in terms of housing requirements, a fully functional duck house can be made with local resources, facilitating proper ventilation and ensuring their safety. In an intensive duck farming system, a floor space of a minimum 3 sq. ft. per bird is required while in a semi-intensive system, a minimum 2-2.5 sq. ft. area per bird is required for night shelter.
Selection of breed
After determining the farm size, the selection of breed requires the right decision making in order to generate a profitable commercial duck farming business. It depends on the purpose that a farmer wants to rear ducks for meat or eggs. For instance, white packing duck is the most popular and best breed in India for laying eggs while they are also known as the most profitable breed for fine quality of meat production.
Availability of exotic and local breeds
In India there are availability of exotic and native breeds of ducks for production like Khaki Campbell is one of the best egg and meat producing breed in ducks having fast growth rate and efficient feed converters (Adzitey and Adzitey, 2011) [2] . Duck breeds commonly used for meat production, egg production or for both purposes are easily available in India. As mentioned earlier on, exotic duck breeds like Pekin, Muscovy, Khaki Campbell, India Runner and mule are widely used for meat and/or egg production and are readily available in Asia. In recent times, numerous studies are administered to enhance upon the expansion, production performance and nutritional quality of those breeds. It has been reported that the fashionable domestic White Pekin duck perform better than the fashionable broiler chicken in terms of weight gain and feed efficiency to an equivalent live weight due to genetic improvement. These indigenous breeds are well adapted to the tough and hardy environmental conditions of Asia. They can prey on their own (foraging), survive local available feedstuffs, tolerate common environmental diseases and requires less skill to rear them. It is quite obvious that the majority people prefer things from their locality or society, but the performance traits of those breeds hamper their use for egg or meat production. Therefore there is the need for governments, scientists, concerned organizations and all stakeholders to work towards improving the performance characteristics of these indigenous breeds while maintaining and conserving their genetic diversity. Rural communities can cash in of the readily available duck breeds (both improved exotic breeds and indigenous breeds) to farm ducks and/or increase their production. There is already market for duck meat and eggs in Asia, therefore farming ducks can provide rural households jobs and income (Adzitey and Adzitey, 2011) . The ‘Desi’ type duck found the major part of the duck population in Lakimpur and Dhemaj districts of Assam (Mahanta et al., 2001) [6] . Primarily the farmers in Bangladesh reared ‘Desi’ and non-descript ducks (Jalil et al., 1993) . Nageswari were only found in limited pockets in the Cachar and Karimganj districts of Assam
Investment
This is a critical step in starting a duck farming business. Similar to any agricultural practice, duck farming also requires investment and development costs. The major factors determining the amount of capital investment are land prices, infrastructural costs (electricity, water, etc), feeding, compliances, purchasing ducklings, and medicines. Majorly, the exact amount of capital investment can be determined only after analysing the size and scale of operations.
Key benefits of duck farming
Duck farms are considered highly cost-efficient as they are comparatively lesser expensive than raising chicken. Ducks require low-cost and non-elaborative housing facilities that save huge housing costs for farmers to set up a commercial duck farming business. Further, ducks require less space for their raising as they have a shorter brooding period and ducklings grow faster which in turn offers tangible benefits to farmers. Interestingly, it is also easier for farmers to feed ducks as they can live on a variety of low-cost food including copra, cassava, corn, rice, fruits, among other grains. Besides this, they tend to obtain food like green legumes, algae, aquatic weeds, fungi, earthworms, maggots, snails and other types of insects.
Moreover, ducks require less care than any other bird. They are adaptive to environmental conditions and do not require heavy efforts on management. Besides, one of the major benefits of raising ducks is their cycle of laying eggs either at night or in the morning. This allows the farmer to collect fresh eggs every morning and continue with their other business practices.
Systems of duck rearing
Free range system
The ducks are kept in enclose only at night. At during the day time the ducks are free to roam outside for search of feed. And brought inside at night by putting some feed in extra amount in the shelter. The ducks only require night shelter and nests for laying eggs. Ducks will stay around the place, provided you treat them well. Advantage of this system is that the ducks go to the feed and harvest it themselves. This way, nutrients become available that the farmer cannot reach otherwise. Some farmers in herd their flocks to graze large areas after the rice harvest.
Confined system
Ducks are kept enclosed permanently, either in a covered shelter (indoor system / intensive system) or with a run in the open. The ducks stay in the same place. It is easy to keep an eye on them and check them. An outside run of duck makes it easier to give the access to water, when pond can be put in the open run area.
Indoor system
The indoor system is for large-scale duck farms and where the production is mechanized to reduce laboure costs (Nind and Tu, 1998) [17] . The system requires more investment than the other two systems of housing. Farmer responsibility that, has to provide all feed and water properli and clean shelter regularly. If properly managed, growth can be fast and production cheap. In indoor system provide a large shallow container with water so that ducks can wash and bath. Like open drinkers they should be located over a drained area covered with wire or slatted floor.
Integrated Duck Rearing Systems
A well-known and established system, is the traditional ‘duck-cum-rice system’ or ‘duck-cum-fish system’ (Farrell, 1997) [18] ; (Setioko, 1997) ; (Rajasekaran, 2001) ; (Tai and Tai, 2001) . In this system duck production involves integrated with rice cultivation or fish farming. A symbiotic relationship exists between ducks and rice cultivation or ducks and fishes. The technique and knowledge of this system is easily available, known and practiced by rural communities engaged in duck production for centuries. It means that, little training and education is needed for such rural communities to improve upon this system to increase production to better their livelihoods (Adzitey and Adzitey, 2011) . Duck rearing combines well with other forms of farming like paddy and fish. In these systems the different forms of production complement each other and the farmer will have better production and more profit. Waste and by-products are used. It covers two well-known integrated systems.
Duck combined with paddy cultivation
In paddy fields ducks eat harmful snails and insects, this is a help for the paddy and at the same time the ducks get nutritious feed. The farmer spreads risks. Like if the rice yield is low there is still a yield of eggs and duck meat. Duck farming from migrated duck birds is practiced by the poor agricultural laborers in South India. Farmer starts duck farming during the month of December by rearing ducklings. Ducklings were obtained from large farmers. By the month of February as the harvest of second crop of paddy is over the laborers starts migration with the ducks. The paddy cultivators of Tamil Nadu and Kerala generally welcome the ducks.
Duck combined with fish ponds
Waste from the duck shed can be recycled and may be used for fish culture in integrated duck-fish farming (K. Bhagaban, 2006) . This process increases the production of natural food in the ponds, which in turn enhances the fish production. By integrating the duck and fish culture farming, more returns can be achieved by farmer. This gives the good benefits to the farmers. If the ducks are allowed to swim freely in the fishponds, the waste can be dispersed uniformly in the ponds and it can also be used as a good fertilizer. Because of these, expenses for fertilizer, feed, supplementary feed for fish is minimized. Ducks are inside the fishpond, it prevents the growth of the aquatic weeds and increases the biological productivity of the ponds. Due to the swimming action of the ducks, the amount of oxygen in the ponds gets increased. Ducks eat the weeds, insects, larvae, worms etc present in the pond, and hence there is no need to add more additional feed to them (D.S. Rajput et al., 2014) . In duck – cum fish integrated farming, fishes with 10 cm length only to be stocked because fishes less than this length may be eaten by the ducks. Fish seeds can be stoked at the rate of 10000 numbers/ha which is depending upon the nature of the fishpond and the availability of fish seeds the stocking density may vary. Rising and rearing of ducks depends upon the type of the species and egg laying capacity (N. Ravisankar et al., 2012) . To get more meat and egg from the duck-fish culture, proper management practices plays a vital role. The shed should be well ventilated and stagnant of waste water should be prevented. 200 ducks are sufficient for fertilizing 1 ha pond. Ducks get their natural food from the pond itself. The domestic waste, rice bran, broken rice and pulses are more than enough for them.
Duck, fish with paddy cultivation
Duck and fish can be reared together in the same field where paddy is being cultivated. This system adds other advantages to rural farmers. Manure from duck which can be used to improve soil fertility of agricultural lands. The duck manure can also be used as a source of organic matter in fish farming to improve the growth of both phytoplankton and zooplankton which serves food source for fish. Droppings from duck can encourage the growth of aquatic snails, worms and other aquatic fauna and flora that act as feed for ducks. This system has also reported to increase productivity, ensure efficient use of water lowers spread economic risk of price fluctuation, has minimal environmental impact and a good system for sustainable agriculture (Tai and Tai, 2001) . There is some evidence that fish-duck production system played a vital role in improving food security, nutrition and income level among households in rural Indian who were involved in fish-duck production compared to households which were not.
Feedstuff availability for ducks
Feed is one of the most important factors to consider in any farming venture. Feed alone constituent about 70% of total production cost.
Duckling
Most of the farmers provided broken rice, crushed snails and cooked rice to the ducklings up to 15 days of age. After that they were fed kitchen waste, paddy grains, cooked arum (root), cooked vegetables and cooked rice, in addition to the feed received from foraging. The duck farmers in Tamil Nadu fed their ducklings different diets according to age.
Adult duck
The primary sources of feeding for adult ducks were postharvested paddy fields for grains, ponds and waterlogged areas for fish, snails and insects (Ravindran, 1983 and Reddy, 1987). On the other hand, duck farmers in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Indonesia feed adult ducks with the mixture of locally available feed ingredients. The survey also found that ducks in some areas were driven to distant locations in search of water for grazing and watering during periods of drough (R. Islam et al., 2002) . Under the traditional systems of duck production, ducks can scavenge on their own to obtain the necessary nutrients needed for their growth. By this feed supplementation (manufactured) can be avoided and subsequently reduction in feed cost. Non-conventional feedstuffs have been demonstrated to be valuable feed for poultry (Men et al., 1995) ; (Adzitey et al., 2010) ; (Dei et al., 2010). Feed supplementation increased egg production of indigenous ducks (Haque et al., 1991) . Increasing ducks production under semi-scavenging system is closely related with the development of feeding system.
Feed ingredients for supplement 10 kg feeds (Adult bird)
Ingredients Quantity
Maize 4 kg
Rice Polish 3 kg,
Mustard Cake 1 kg
Min mix 350 g
Salt 250 g
Vita. mix 250
Antibiotics 75 g
Coccidiostate 75 g
Care and Management of Duck
Care of Duckling
Electric lamps were used as a heat source for the first 1-2 weeks for brooding of ducklings (Nind and Tu, 1998) . Ducklings up to 15 days of age were confined in enclosures in open areas surrounded by bamboo baskets specially made for this purpose. From 7 days of age they were allowed to swim in nearby ponds, waterlogged areas or canals. At night, ducklings were housed in one corner of the farmer’s dwelling house, enclosed by wooden or bamboo mats. A practically similar type of rearing system was practised in Kerala (Ravindran, 1983) . Ducklings may be brooded on wire floor, litter or batteries (Van and Dikken, 2004) . The brooding period of layer ducklings is 3-4 weeks. For meat type ducklings, brooding for 2-3 weeks is sufficient. The temperature of 32 °C is maintained during the first week. It is reduced by about 3 °C per week till it reaches 24 °C during the fourth week. In wire floor, space of 0.5 sq. ft. per bird and in litter 1 sq. ft. per bird is sufficient up to three weeks of age. Water in the drinkers should be 5.0-7.5 cm deep, just sufficient to drink and not to dip themselves. In deep litter brooding, the thickness of the litter will be 3 cm and above to absorb the excess moisture in the ducks’ droppings. In extensive system, no artificial warmth is provided, but the heat of brooding shed is conserved by making “Closed tents”. After 15 days they were released and allowed to forage freely with their mother. The ducks are allowed to swim in water after the brooding period is over.
Care of adult Ducks
The farmers usually kept adult ducks under a scavenging or free-range rearing system in which the ducks were let loose in the morning and returned to the farmer’s home yard in the evening. During the night they were put in a holding pen constructed on an elevated area surrounded by paddy fields. Only a few (8%) of farmers adopted an integrated duck/fish farming system (Rithamber et al., 1986) and (Mahanta et al., 2001) in Andhra Pradesh and Assam respectively. The duck farmers of Kerala followed a nomadic life that required continuous movement with their flocks, (Ramachandran and Ramakrisknan, 1982 and Ravindram, 1983) . Under intensive system a floor apace of 4 to 5 sq. ft. is essential, where as in semi intensive system a floor space of 3 sq. ft. in shelter and 12-17 sq. ft. in outfield is sufficient. A feeding space of 6-7 cm. is sufficient. In rural duck farming, straight run ducklings (male and female) will be reared up to 10 to 15 weeks of age (Van and Dikken, 2004) . For laying bird 30x30x45 cm. size box is sufficient for three birds. For layer light of 16 hours is sufficient. In layer mating ratio of 1:6 to 7 and for meat breeds a ratio of 1: 4 to 5 is sufficient (R. Singh, 2019) . Under intensive system, a floor space of 4 sq. ft. per bird is essential. In semi intensive system a floor space of 3 sq. ft. per bird for night shelter and 10-12 sq. ft. per bird of outside run space is required.
Breeding Management
The desirable sex ratio for good fertility and hatchability for ducks is 1:6 for intensive rearing and 1:15-20 for extensive rearing system. In extensive system of rearing of rural ducks, farmers keep a wide sex ratio of 1:20-25, however they get a reasonable good fertility of 70-80 percent (MacDonald and Low, 1985). Drakes usually mate during swimming.
Health Management
The most prevalent diseases were duck plague, duck cholera, hepatitis and botulism. Diseases in ducks, is most likely the result of unsanitary surrounding and faulty management or inherent weakness due to breeding. Ducks are more vigorous and less subject to diseases than chicken and turkeys. The highest mortality in local ducks due to duck cholera (Mahanta et al., 2001 and Karim, 1987) . Mortality due to diseases was 10-15% in ducklings and below 10% in adults (Reddy 1987). The health protection offered by the farmers included occasional vaccination against duck plague, treatment with common antibiotics, potash solution, local vodka and black pepper. Flocks were routinely vaccinated against duck plague, (Ramachandran and Ramakrishnan, 1982 and Ravindran, 1983) . However, none of the farmers vaccinated their duck flocks against any of these diseases (Rithamber et al. 1986) . Parasitic control -Ducks are resistance to internal parasites. The internal parasites include flukes, tape worm, and round worm. The infestation is prevalent only among those ducks which have access to stagnant water, overcrowded ponds. The external parasites include lice, mite ticks and ticks.
Prevention and control
1.Different types of anathematic drugs should used for controlling parasitic control. 2. Vaccinations – Some diseases are so infectious or so common in ducks by vaccinating the ducks, can protect them. Good hygiene and vaccinating ducks are the two most important aspects of preventing ducks becoming ill (National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, 2000) . 3. Purchasing disease free stock, sanitation, mineral & vitamin supplementation, periodic used of coccidiostate, deworming and following schedule vaccination are the important steps for prevention of diseases. 4. Common Medication for Duck: —————– A. Electral: ——–10g/lt water at the time of arrival of duckling. B. Antistress like Stresroak: ——–20g/lt water at the time of arrival and one in every week. C. Multivitamins like Vimeral: ———-5ml/lt water 5 day continuously every month. D. Amprolium (Anticoccidiostate): ———1g/lt water in normal bird start at 3 weeks of age continued 5-7 days and repeat every 2 month. In case of disease 2-5g/lt water. E. Dewormer:———– 15g/100birds, start at 3 weeks of age, continued 5-7 days and repeat every 2 month. F. Tetracycline: ———–5g/lt water for 5-7 days in case of diarrhea.
Meat-type breeds of duck
Muscovy: The Muscovy breed is easily identified by its red knobby nodules along the eyes and above the base of the bill, it is the leaner variety and the meat is darker. Muscovy is a heavy breed.
Pekin: The Pekin breed is native to China. Pekin ducklings are ready for market at age two to three months. The white Peking duck, often sold under the name Long Island duckling, are the ones most often available in supermarkets today. This breed is the most demanded for its quality meat, tremendous taste and flavor.
Broiler or fryer: These ducks are young (under 8 weeks) and tender, roaster duckling (under 16 weeks) is starting to harden, and mature duck has tougher flesh.
Composition of duck meat:
Duck muscles are predominantly dark muscle throughout the carcass. The moisture content of duck meat is around 73-76% (Omojola, 2007). The protein content of duck breasts and legs are 20.8 and 19.6%, respectively (Cobos et al., 2000). The ranges of essential amino acid percentages present in duck meats: 6.01-8.08% of phenylalanine and tyrosine, 3.21-6.14% of isoleucine, 7.67-8.45% of leucine, 8.60-9.57% of lysine, 3.11-3.26% of methionine and cysteine, 4.11-5.22% of threonine, 0.70-1.25% of tryptophan and 3.67-7.01% of valine (Woloszyn et al., 2006).
The percentage of fat in duck meat is relatively higher than other common poultry meats. Fat alteration over storage time will affect the physicochemical and sensory properties (Russell et al., 2004) in the form of raw meat or processed products. It contains 5.95% lipid without the skin and 39.34% with skin. Muscle alone contains 50.3% saturated, 33.4% monounsaturated and 16.3% polyunsaturated fatty acids, whereas duck with skin contains 35.7% saturates; 50.5% monounsaturates and 13.7% polyunsaturates, as with chicken and turkey the addition of the skin increases the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids in the lipid from duck. The major fatty acids in duck fat are similar to those in chicken and turkey except for the absence of long chain PUFA’s and a higher proportion of linoleic acid. Duck fat contains 35.7% saturates, 50.5% monounsaturates (high in linoleic acid) and 13.7% polyunsaturated fats (Which contains Omega-6 and Omega-3 essential oils). The main difference between chicken, turkey and duck is that duck contains more linoleic acid, which chicken and turkey contain a higher amount of polyunsaturated fats. It appears that duck fat is more like olive oil than it is like butter or beef.
Type of duck meat
Duck meat can be categorized into two types.
Whole duck and the cutting part including breast meat, fillet, bone-in-leg, thigh meat, drum stick, three joint wing, wing stick, middle wing, two joint wing, wing tip and others e.g. tongue, beak and feet.
Purchasing and Storage Tips of duck meat
- Fresh duck should be odor-free and have clean skin with no pinfeathers.
- Frozen duck should have a plump breast and wrapped in an airtight package.
- The meat should be stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator and frozen duck can be stored in the freezer for three months.
- Duck liver/foiegras, is highly perishable and will only keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator once the package has been opened.
Characteristics feature of duck meat:
The dressing percentage of duck is around 65-71% (Omojola, 2007)and it varies with the age and sex of the bird. Some important characters of duck meat are,
Color of Duck Meat:
Duck meat is considered as “white” meat, even though its meat is considerably darker than other poultry meats such as chicken or turkey. The reason for this is ducks are more active in comparison to chicken therefore they need and use up more oxygen. The extra oxygen in the body of the duck or other types of game bird, gives their meat the darker red color due the higher content of muscle myoglobin.
Aroma of duck meat: The aroma of duck meat is relatively stronger than other poultry meats. It has been found that the flavor of meat is positively correlated with lipid content (Chartrin et al., 2006b) and the higher fat content of duck meat may cause the stronger flavor.
pH of duck meat: The pH range of duck meat is 5.4 to 6.3 (Erisir et al., 2009) in most of the cases. The pH of duck meat, however, is related to its glycogen content. A higher glycogen contents result in lower pH levels.
Processed duck products
Among the popular duck meat cuisine, Roasted duck , Roasted magret (breast filets of duck), Pan-fried Duck, Braised Duck, Pan-fried duck liver (Foie gras), Barbecued Grilled Duck, Grilled Duck Kebabs etc. are well known. Other than those some regional variation are, Peking roasted duck, Nanjing cooked duck, Zhangcha duck (China), Canard α l’Orange (France), Oritang (Korea) and gulai itiak lado mudo (Indonesia). The only traditional applications of duck meat cannot stimulate the rapid growth and popularity development of duck meat applications in this decade. Therefore the export graded duck meat products yet to be developed and fabricated.
Future approaches
Low demand for duck meat positively correlates with the low consumption of duck meat. The low level of consumption of duck meat is governed by many factors in comparison to chicken meat, reflected in low levels of duck meat acceptance and preference by society, the reason behind this constraints are, the unavailability of the meat quality ducks breeds, lower production level, difficulties in the slaughtering, lack of demand for ducks and weakness of market system for selling duck meat products (Oteku et al.,2006). The holistic approach towards the development of healthy, safe and nutritionally enriched duck meat can remove stigma adhere with the duck meat. The efforts to solve these problems focus should be on the researchers and government to popularize the duck meat as a food choice and to undertake necessary policy. A persuasive approach and good policies from the government will hopefully attract the society to use duck meat in greater quantities.
Duck keeping was a subsidiary source of income in India Ducks are more prolific birds and produce about more eggs (about 20-25) than backyard chicken. Duck farming in India is in an emerging sector. It needs lot of awareness in people for its betterment in future. There are readily available exotic and local breeds of ducks for production. Ducks have long productive and profitable life i.e., they lay eggs profitably during second and third year also. Ducks supplement their feed by foraging; hence it will reduce the feed cost. It lays their eggs during early in the morning and saves time and enables easy egg collection. Duck farming is having symbiotic relationship with paddy cultivation, so ducks and paddy cultivation can be integrated in the entire paddy farming areas. Ducks involved in integrated farming so farmer can able to get other resource income also, like symbiotic relationship with paddy cultivation. These are quite intelligent birds and they can be easily trained for their daily routine, and it reduces the labour for management. They are quite hardy birds, easily brooded and resistant to common avian diseases. The knowledge of traditional duck production is required to established in India because improper management practices leads to lowers the production.
DR RAMDYAL K., LIVESTOCK CONSULTANT, AP
REFERENCE-ON REQUEST
References:
- Chartrin, P., M.D. Bernadet, G. Guy, J. Mourot and J.F. Hocquette, 2006. Does overfeeding enhance genotype effects on energy metabolism and lipid deposition in breast muscle of ducks? Comp. Biochem. Physiol. Part A: Mol. Integrative Physiol. 145: 413-418.
- Cobos, A., A. Veiga and O. Diaz, 2000. Chemical and fatty acid composition of meat and liver of wild ducks (Anas platyhynchos). Food Chem. 68: 77-79.
- Erisir, Z., O. Poyraz, E.E. Onbasilar, E. Erdem and G.A. Oksuztepe, 2009. Effects of housing system, swimming pool and slaughter age on duck performance, carcass and meat characteristics. J. Anim. Vet. Adv. 8: 1864-1869.
