Effect of genotype and age at slaughter on meat traits in Pekin ducks

The aim of the study was to compare the meat traits of Pekin ducks from two strains: A55 of Polish origin and F11 of French origin and their crossbreeds slaughtered at weeks 7 and 8 of age. In total, 240 ducks were used in the study, which were allocated to 6 groups having 40 birds per group as follows: group I – ♂ F11; II – ♀ F11; III – ♂ A55; IV – ♀ A55; V – ♂ AF51; VI – ♀ AF51. The study revealed that the origin of birds influenced to some extent the body weight during growth. In the early period (day 1-week 2), the highest body weight was found in AF51 birds of both sexes, and the lowest in F11 birds of both sexes. In the later period (week 8 to 7–8), the body weight was highest in ♂ F11, A55, and AF51 crossbreeds, and the lowest in ♀ AF51 and A55. Most differences among these groups were significant. Genotype also influenced the pre-slaughter body weight of ducks. For birds slaughtered at week 8 there were no significant inter-group differences in this trait. The origin of ducks had no effect on other traits such as dressing percentage, weight of wings, weight of carcass remains and offal, the weight of muscles and carcass fatness. There were significant differences in the pre-slaughter body weight of ♀ F11 and the weight of gutted carcasses in ♀ AF51. This indicates that the rearing of ducks may be completed at 7 weeks, since in this study age at slaughter had no significant effect on meat characteristics such as dressing percentage, weight of wings, weight of carcass remains and offal, weight of muscles, and fatness of duck carcasses.