New Technology for Waterfowl Farming: The Dry-Rearing Model Is Highly Profitable and Environmentally Friendly

China is the world's largest producer of waterfowl, with the number of meat ducks, laying ducks and geese raised accounting for about 70% of the world total. As technology improves, waterfowl farming methods are also transforming and upgrading from “extensive to environmentally friendly.” What new technologies are there in the field of waterfowl farming today? What advantages do they have compared with traditional farming models? What is the current economic benefit of waterfowl farming? And how should one choose suitable waterfowl breeds for farming?

Today's Expert

Hou Shuisheng

Chief Scientist of the National Waterfowl Industry Technology System

Researcher at the Beijing Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Over the past 20 to 30 years, China's waterfowl industry has made tremendous progress. Whether in terms of breeds, farming technology, feed, or food processing, a series of tremendous advances have been achieved.

The waterfowl industry provides three different types of products: meat, eggs and down, all of which have extremely high economic value. In 2018, our slaughter volume of meat ducks was about 3.5 billion birds, duck meat production was around 7 million tons, and goose meat production was 1.5 million tons. The combined production of duck meat and goose meat accounted for about 10% of China's total meat production.

“Dry rearing of waterfowl” can increase the survival rate of ducks and geese

Question: What new technologies are there in the field of waterfowl farming today? What advantages do they have compared with traditional farming models?

Hou Shuisheng:

Dry rearing of waterfowl is mainly used to replace the water-based rearing of the past. This off-water dry-rearing model mainly keeps ducks and geese housed entirely indoors, and includes two types: rearing on wire mesh and rearing on thick litter.

Rearing on wire mesh means placing the ducks or geese on mesh, where their living, feeding, drinking and activity all take place on the mesh. Their droppings fall through the mesh onto the ground and are cleaned away at any time, so that the environment inside the waterfowl house can be very effectively controlled. This fully indoor, enclosed rearing method achieves a high degree of automation, and the indoor environmental indicators can meet the needs of the waterfowl.

The other aspect is rearing on thick litter. We now use large quantities of rice husks as litter inside waterfowl houses. This litter has very good water absorbency and can provide a good, comfortable environment for ducks and geese. At the same time, after being turned over, the excrement can ferment and be converted into organic fertilizer.

If water sources are used on a large scale, it will cause a great deal of pollution to the water surface. On the one hand, waterfowl pollute the water source; on the other hand, polluted water sources also have a huge impact on the health of waterfowl. These two aspects interact with each other. Therefore, through our highly mature dry-rearing technology, the health level of ducks has been greatly improved. For example, under dry-rearing conditions, the survival rate of ducks and geese can reach 98 percent or even above 99 percent. So from this indicator, their health level is very high.

Question: You do not recommend that farmers raise waterfowl by free-range grazing under trees?

Hou Shuisheng:

In fact, this farming method is unscientific. Why? Because its inputs are uncontrollable. What exactly have the ducks or geese eaten outdoors? We don't know. What kind of water have they drunk? We don't know either. Only under artificial control, when we give them clean drinking water and highly nutritious feed, will the quality of the meat be better.

The duck meat food processing industry is developing rapidly; “dry rearing of waterfowl” produces ecological benefits

Question: Some farmers believe that feeding waterfowl compound feed is not good. Is that actually the case?

Hou Shuisheng:

Actually, that is not the case. Compound feed uses the principles of nutrition science. For example, it uses various feed resources such as corn, soybean meal, cottonseed meal and rapeseed meal, and according to scientific calculations, formulates them into a type of feed that can meet the nutritional needs of waterfowl. So compound feed is in fact a type of feed with relatively high feed conversion efficiency, relatively good nutritional quality, and the ability to ensure the health of waterfowl. Through the continuous improvement of waterfowl feed quality, we have powerfully improved the growth rate of ducks, while also improving the quality of meat and eggs.

Question: Compared with other farmed species, what is the economic benefit of waterfowl farming?

Hou Shuisheng:

Nowadays, wherever you go, you will find a series of duck meat products such as “Juewei Duck Neck” and “Zhou Hei Ya.” What does this show? It shows that in recent years, whether from south to north or from east to west, the processing industry for our duck meat food has been developing especially newly and especially rapidly.

From the perspective of producing high-quality protein, the efficiency of waterfowl is much higher than that of pigs, cattle and sheep. For example, every 100 grams of feed protein can produce about 24 grams of poultry protein, but if used to produce pig protein, it is about 18 grams. So the efficiency differs greatly. In terms of feed conversion efficiency, compared with the 3:1 feed conversion efficiency of pigs and the 7:1 of cattle and sheep, the 2:1 conversion efficiency of poultry is the highest.

Although the conversion efficiency of chickens is similar to that of ducks, ducks have higher value because ducks have down. For a duck raised for 40 days, the price of its down is currently about five yuan, so its value is very high.

Question: As a farmer, how should one choose suitable farming breeds?

Hou Shuisheng:

Different types of food require different breeds as support. For example, Beijing roast duck requires breeds with relatively thick skin and fat rate, relatively high meat quality, and relatively high intramuscular fat content in the muscle as support; Nanjing saltwater duck requires breeds with relatively thin skin, relatively low subcutaneous fat content, and relatively well-developed breast muscle as support; Guangdong roast goose requires the local Magang goose as support. Therefore, in the future, we will provide different breeds according to the characteristics of food demand, to promote the development of the entire food industry.

We suggest that if farmers or rural households in a certain region want to develop aquaculture, it is best to cooperate with local national-level leading enterprises or provincial-level leading enterprises. For example, the New Hope Liuhe Group is the enterprise with the largest meat duck slaughter volume in China, with an annual processing volume reaching a scale of 450 million birds. It has organized more than 10,000 farming households to engage in meat duck farming year-round.

Source of this article: "Wealth Youth Gang" on China National Radio's China Rural Voice, under China Media Group