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Abstract
The rising prices and reduced availability of traditional feed have prompted feed manufacturers and the livestock industry to explore sustainable and economical alternative feed sources. Unconventional feed resources have emerged as appropriate alternatives. Sorghum grain (Sorghum bicolor), with a nutritive value similar to maize, has proven suitable as the sole cereal component in commercial poultry diets. This study aimed to assess the impact of incorporating sorghum grain into duck pellets on intake, blood profile, and growth performance. Thirty unsexed ducks, approximately 20 days old, were divided into two dietary groups: the treatment group, which received pellets containing sorghum grain, and the control group, which received commercial pellets. Over six weeks, feed intake, blood parameters, and growth performance were evaluated. The results revealed significant (p<0.05) improvements in ducks fed sorghum-enriched pellets. These ducks showed enhanced growth metrics, including higher body weight (1298.0 vs. 953.3 g per bird) and faster growth rates (30.9 vs. 22.7 g per day per bird) compared to the control group, respectively. Additionally, ducks in the sorghum-treated group exhibited significantly higher (p<0.05) feed conversion ratio (6.0 vs. 4.3) than those in the control group, respectively. In terms of blood biochemistry, ducks fed the treatment diet showed higher haemoglobin levels (11.2 vs. 10.37 g/dL), increased red blood cell counts (2.3 vs. 2.2×10¹²/dL), higher mean corpuscular haemoglobin (49.7 vs. 49.3 pg), and elevated white cell counts (111.39 vs. 69.14×10⁹/dL) compared to the control group, respectively. These findings underscore sorghum's potential as a key nutritional element for optimising duck production systems. The study concluded that the inclusion of sorghum in pellet formulations positively impacts feed intake, growth performance, and blood biochemistry in ducks.
Keywords: Sorghum bicolor, Ducks, Feed Intake, Blood Metabolic Profile, Growth Performance.
