Study on the morphology and mineralization of the tibia in meat ducks from 1 to 56 d

The objective of this current study was to characterize the basic physiological data on morphological and mineralized properties of the tibia from 1 to 56 days, as well as the interrelationships of body weight (BW) and bone traits for meat ducks. A total of 176 1-d-old ducks was allocated into eight pens and fed with the same diet until the age of 56 d. Eight birds (1 ducks/pen) were randomly selected weekly for measuring BW and tibia characteristics. The BW of duck was increased with age throughout the whole study. Tibial length and width rapidly grew from 1 to 35 d, when it leveled off. The fat-free weight, ash, calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) content of tibia increased rapidly from 1 to 42 d and reached its plateau from 42 d onward. Tibial density and tibia-breaking strength increased in a regular manner with age until 42 d. Serum alkaline phosphatase activity was higher between 1 to 7 d in the duck. Regression and ontogenetic scaling analysis showed the age of maximal growth rate in tibia dimension and mineralization was earlier than that in BW; when compared with BW, tibial fat-free weight and tibia-breaking strength increased isometrically, tibia length displayed a negative allometry, and tibial width showed a positive allometric growth. Results indicate that the tibia displayed rapid bone growth (1 to 35 d) and mineralization (1 to 42 d), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) plays a critical role in the early stage of tibia mineralization of meat duck. Intensive selection for growth rate in ducks has resulted in tibial morphology changes, which represents an interesting compromise of adaptation for increasing BW.