Keterkaitan genetis sifat rontok bulu dengan produksi telur pada itik alabio dan itik peking

Abstract

Molting is a natural phenomenon on all adult female birds related to egg production, but the extent of its effects on egg production has not been known. An experiment was conducted to study the nature of the genetic relationship between molting and egg production, to study the effect of the prolactin hormone concentration on the molting and egg production, and to get an alternative way of controlling the molting in ducks. The research materials were crossbred Alabio and Peking ducks i.e AP ( Alabio ♂ x Peking ♀) and PA (Peking ♂ x Alabio ♀), 10 males and 90 females, respectively, with the total number of 200 birds. The variables measured were the pattern of molting, frequency, starting time of molting, duration of stops laying eggs, and the prolactin hormone concentrations that were associated with the production of eggs for 48 weeks. The results showed that the mechanism of molting always started with a stop laying, molting, and laying back. The molting occurence was used to divide the experimental ducks into two , namely (a) the ducks showing no molting during 48-weeks observation and (b) ducks showing molting during 48-weeks observation. The average egg production for 48 weeks in the non-molting ducks were significantly higher than that in the molting ducks (P <0.01). In the population of molting duck, selection can still be done, as there are molting individuals with high egg production. Therefore, the variables associated with molting in egg production should be sought. The molting frequency does not affect the egg production. The starting time of molting affect egg production, but its correlation with egg production was low, so it can not be used as selection criteria. The variables of stop laying affects egg production for 48 weeks and its correlation with egg production was high, so the variable of stop laying can be used as selection criteria of molting to increase egg production. The results of measurements of the concentration of prolactin hormone is consistent with the production of eggs. The concentration of the prolactin hormone in AP and PA ducks during the egg-laying period before and after the molting was very significantly higher than in the period of molting. In the period before molting, the prolactin hormone concentrations of AP ducks was higher than that of PA duck. The egg production of AP ducks before molting (0 -16 weeks) was higher than that of the PA ducks. The conclusion is that the alternative handling of the molting genetically is selection, and its criteria are whether presence or absence of molting. On the molting duck population, selection can be done based on the duration of stop laying i.e., less than 60 days as selection criterion.