A comparison of three duck strains (Pekin, Muscovy & Sudani) in Egypt for sexual dimorphism with regard to body weight, body measurements and carcass traits

Abstract

The Sudani duck (Egyptian Muscovy) is a native bird of Egypt. The objective of this study it compared among Sudani, French Muscovy and Pekin ducks for their sexual dimorphism, live body weight (LBW), body measurements and carcass composition at marketing age (8, 10 and 14 wks) for Pekin, Muscovy and Sudani ducks, respectively. A total of 36 (18 males+ 18 females), 38 (19 males+ 19 females) and 46 (23 males+23 females) for Pekin, Muscovy and Sudani ducks, respectively were investgated. The main results revealed that Pekin ducks had lower sexual dimorphism for live body weight (9.38%) compared to either Sudani (68.47%) or Muscovy (57.95%) ducks. The Muscovy duck strain significantly recorded (p≤0.0001) higher sexual dimorphism for body measurements (44.44%, 38.86%, 22.71% and 23.86% for shank length, keel length, body circumference and body length ,respectively) compared to Pekin ducks, (5.31%, 3.15%, 1.9% and 1.98% for shank length, keel length, body circumference and body length ,respectively) with the Sudani ducks intermediate (35.36%, 20.74%, 22.85% and 24.30% for shank length, keel length, body circumference and body length ,respectively). The Pekin duck exhibited greater (p≤0.05) sexual dimorphism for abdominal fat (18.5%) compared to Sudani (1.08%) and Muscovy (-9.56%) ducks. Sudani ducks significantly recorded greater (p≥0.0001) sexual dimorphism for edible meat parts (90.29%) compared to Pekin (11.83%) ducks, while the Muscovy (58.78%) ducks were intermediate. Finally, The Sudani ducks recorded higher (p≥0.0001) sexual dimorphism for most measurements compared to Pekin ducks; however, the Muscovy ducks were intermediate.