The effect of synbiotic through feed and drinking water on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Tegal duck

Abstract

Synbiotics are a combination of probiotics and prebiotics that have a positive effect on livestock performance. The method of giving synbiotics as a growth supplement needs to be studied to get the best results. This study aimed to investigate the effect of administering synbiotic (a mixture of Lactobacillus casei and porang tuber extracts (LCPE) in water or as feed supplement on performance and nutrient digestibility of Tegal duck. The research used a total number of 240-day old ducks with an average body weight of 47.84 6.32 g. The ducks were weighed and distributed into 24 groups. Two experiments (I and II) were carried out simultaneously in the same cage and time. Each experiment used 120 ducks. Ducks were adapted from the age of 1 to 14 days. Parameter data were measure in ducks aged 15 to 42 days. Trial I included 3 groups of dietary synbiotic (0, 10, 20 ml/kg) through feed, while In trial II, the ducks were fed synbiotics (0; 10; 20 ml/L) through water drinking for four weeks. The observed variables included growth performance and nutrient digestibility. The mixture of Lactobacillus casei and glucomannan from porang tuber extract improved nutrient digestibility and duck performance. The best performance and nutrient digestibility is LCPE 20 ml/L drinking water.