Comparison of some meat traits in ducks from two conservative flocks

Abstract. Eighty Pekin ducks from P11 and P22 conservative flocks (40 birds of each strain, including 20 males and 20 females) were investigated. Ducks were raised in a confinement building and fed ad libitum standard diets for waterfowl. At 7 weeks of age, 5 males and 5 females from each strain were slaughtered and dissected. Breast and leg muscles were sampled to determine fatty acid profile and selected minerals. Compared to P22 ducks, P11 ducks showed higher body weight at 7 weeks of age and higher rate of growth paralleled by better feed conversion ratio (kg feed/kg gain), higher dressing percentage, lower proportion (%) of leg muscles and lower proportion of all carcass muscles. Differences in these traits were not significant. Breast muscles of P11 ducks had significantly more C_24:0 and C_20:4 acids and leg muscles contained significantly more C_14:0, C_16:1, C_18:1 and C_24:0 acids compared to P22 ducks. In addition, leg muscles of P11 ducks had a significantly lower proportion of C_17:0, C_18:0, C_24:0 and C_22:4 compared to the same muscles of P22 birds. Leg muscles of P11 ducks had significantly more monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), higher unsaturated to saturated fatty acid (UFA/SFA) and polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratios (PUFA/SFA), and significantly less saturated fatty acids (SFA) compared to P22 ducks. The Na, K, Mg, Fe, Cu and Zn content of duck muscles was similar in both lines. Compared to leg muscles, breast muscles of P11 and P22 ducks were found to contain significantly more iron (Fe) and copper (Cu), and less zinc (Zn).