Peking x white Mojosari crossbred duck eggs production, quality, and hatchability with probiotic supplementation

The Peking x White Mojosari (PMp) duck is a newly developed crossbred strain with high potential for dual-purpose production; however, optimisation of egg production and hatchability remains a key challenge. This study evaluated the effects of multi-strain probiotic supplementation in drinking water on egg production, egg quality, and hatchability in PMp ducks. This study employed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 2 treatments and 4 replicates. A total of 200 PMp ducks (160 females and 40 males) were allocated to two treatments: a control group without probiotics and a probiotic-treated group receiving a microbial cocktail, including Alkaliphilus, Clostridium, Lentibacillus, Schaalia, Sporolactobacillus, Sporotomaculum) administered via drinking water over three months. Egg production performance, physical egg quality traits, and hatching parameters were assessed, and data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA. Probiotic supplementation significantly increased (P < 0.05) egg production and hatchability compared with the control, without affecting average egg weight or internal and external egg quality characteristics. Female day-old ducklings from probiotic-treated breeders exhibited significantly higher body weight at hatch. These findings demonstrate that multi-strain probiotics administered through drinking water effectively enhance reproductive efficiency and hatchery performance in PMp ducks while maintaining egg quality.