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Abstract
1. Thirty‐two Khaki Campbell laying ducks were divided into two equal groups and housed either in floor pens or in cages in an environmentally controlled building. The food for two replicate groups of four birds each in each management system was rationed by weight and two other replicate groups were fed ad libitum. Housing and feeding treatment effects were assessed by measuring efficiency of food conversion into eggs and egg production.
2. Housing ducks in cages did not reduce egg production or efficiency of food conversion compared with the more conventional floor‐pen housing system. Egg production and egg size were adversely affected by the restricted feeding programme.
3. Caging in a controlled environment with unrestricted food appears to be a potentially feasible management system for laying ducks, comparable with such systems for laying fowls.
Notes
Colorado State University Experiment Station Scientific Series Paper No. 2469. 21/5—a 333