Journal of Biology and Nature

Objective: An experiment was conducted at the Avian Research Station, Thiruvazhamkunnu, Kerala, to evaluate the effect of dietary nano zinc oxide (ZnO-NPs) supplementation on egg weight and egg quality parameters in Kuttanad ducks.

Materials and Methods: A total of 160 birds, aged 16 weeks, were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments (T1: basal diet, T2: basal diet + 80 mg/kg inorganic Zn, T3: basal diet + 20 mg/kg Zn-NPs, T4: basal diet + 40 mg/kg Zn-NPs, T5: basal diet + 60 mg/kg Zn-NPs) in a completely randomised design, with four replicates per treatment and eight birds per replicate. The birds were fed with experimental grower and breeder diets from 17 to 20 and 21 to 40 weeks of age, respectively. The data for the experiment were collected over 16 weeks from 24 to 40 weeks of age, divided into five 28-day periods.

Results: The egg quality parameters such as egg weight, shape index, albumen index and yolk index had no significant differences during the experimental period. However, shell thickness showed significant (p<0.05) difference between treatment groups during all periods of study except the last period. The Zn-NPs supplemented group had significantly higher shell thickness compared to the other treatment groups.

Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the potential benefits of ZnO-NPs supplementation in enhancing the shell thickness of Kuttanad ducks under standard management conditions.