Table 2.
Results obtained on G2 mule duck traits. Statistical significance of the effects of grand-maternal (GM) diet, year, sex and year by sex interaction on G2 mule duck traits (paternal grand-sire effect is not given), and least square means (± SE) of GM dieta
| N | GM diet | Year | Sex | Year x sex | Met-deficient | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth traits | |||||||
| Body weight, 4 weeks | 133 | *** | ns | *** | - | 1326 ± 10d | 1397 ± 11c |
| Body weight, 8 weeks | 134 | *** | *** | *** | - | 2814 ± 19d | 2913 ± 21c |
| Body weight, 12 weeks | 133 | * | *** | Ns | - | 3390 ± 23d | 3458 ± 25c |
| Weight gain, 4–8weeks | 133 | ns | *** | ns | - | ||
| Weight gain, 8–12weeks | 133 | ns | ns | *** | - | 577 ± 19 | 545 ± 21 |
| Weight gain, 4–12weeks | 132 | ns | *** | *** | - | ||
| Force-feeding (FF) traits | |||||||
| Weight gain during FF | 130 | ** | ns | *** | - | 1609 ± 23c | 1502 ± 25d |
| Body weight, 14 weeks (end FF) | 131 | ns | ** | *** | - | 5016 ± 30 | 4960 ± 33 |
| Feed consumption during FF | 131 | ns | *** | *** | - | 14071 ± 48 | 14026 ± 53 |
| Ratio FC/WG during FF | 129 | *** | ns | *** | - | 8.78 ± 0.15c | 9.58 ± 0.17d |
| Carcass traits | |||||||
| Carcass weight (CW) | 129 | ns | * | *** | - | ||
| Magretb weight | 131 | ns | ns | * | - | 367.1 ± 3.4 | 364.5 ± 3.7 |
| Ratio (magret/carcass) | 128 | ns | * | ns | - | ||
| Magret muscle weight | 131 | ns | ns | ns | - | ||
| Ratio (fat + skin/magret) | 131 | ns | ns | ns | - | ||
| Abdominal fat weight (AF) | 131 | * | ns | ** | - | 156.7 ± 2.7c | 146.5 ± 2.9d |
| Ratio AF/CW % | 128 | * | ns | ns | - | 3.45 ± 0.05c | 3.27 ± 0.06d |
| Liver weight (LW) | 131 | ns | ns | ns | *** | ||
| Ratio (LW/CW) | 128 | ns | ns | ** | ** | 12.1 ± 0.3 | 11.9 ± 0.3 |
| Liver melting rate | 131 | ns | *** | *** | ** | ||
| Blood metabolites | |||||||
| Glucose mid-FF (g/L) | 129 | ns | ns | ** | - | ||
| Glucose end-FF (g/L) | 105 | + | ns | *** | - | 3.27 ± 0.19 | 2.83 ± 0.20 |
| Triglycerides mid-FF (g/L) | 129 | ns | *** | ns | - | ||
| Triglycerides end-FF (g/L) | 105 | * | ns | ns | - | 0.85 ± 0.06c | 0.64 ± 0.07d |
aLeast square means of GM diets are given for traits showing an effect of GM diet (P < 0.10) and also for traits showing a significant GM effect in the Muscovy duck progeny (P < 0.05)
b“Magret” is the Pectoralis major with skin of a force-fed duck; FF = Force Feeding
***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05; +P < 0.10; ns: not significant; ‘-‘interaction not included in the model
c,dValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05