Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health

This study evaluated the effects of replacing soybean meal with snail meal on laying performance, egg quality, and blood parameters in laying ducks. Five experimental diets with graded levels of soybean meal replacement by snail meal were formulated: T0 (0% replacement), T1 (25% replacement), T2 (50...

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Main Authors: Yunqian He, Saikun Pan, Shengjun Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Poultry Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579125005966
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author Yunqian He
Saikun Pan
Shengjun Wu
author_facet Yunqian He
Saikun Pan
Shengjun Wu
author_sort Yunqian He
collection DOAJ
description This study evaluated the effects of replacing soybean meal with snail meal on laying performance, egg quality, and blood parameters in laying ducks. Five experimental diets with graded levels of soybean meal replacement by snail meal were formulated: T0 (0% replacement), T1 (25% replacement), T2 (50% replacement), T3 (75% replacement), and T4 (100% replacement). Ducks fed the T2 (50% replacement) diet showed the highest egg production rate (87%), average egg weight (68.0 g), and egg mass (59.2 g/day), along with the lowest feed conversion ratio (2.18). Egg quality also improved, with increased yolk color score (10.0), Haugh unit (86.0), and eggshell strength (4.1 kg/cm²). Serum analysis revealed higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) (85.48 U/mL), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (148.59 U/mL), and IgG (2.34 g/L) levels in the 50% group, indicating enhanced antioxidant and immune functions. These findings suggest that replacing 50% of soybean meal with snail meal optimizes laying performance and physiological health in ducks, and offers a promising strategy for sustainable protein substitution in poultry diets.
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spelling doaj-art-0f0211ec281b40809fd975d60fcc7d602025-08-20T02:50:09ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912025-08-01104810535310.1016/j.psj.2025.105353Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and healthYunqian He0Saikun Pan1Shengjun Wu2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Jiangsu Ocean University, Haizhou, China; Co-Innovation Center of Jiangsu Marine Bio-Industry Technology, Haizhou, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Jiangsu Ocean University, Haizhou, China; Co-Innovation Center of Jiangsu Marine Bio-Industry Technology, Haizhou, China; Corresponding authors at: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Jiangsu Ocean University, Haizhou, China.Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Jiangsu Ocean University, Haizhou, China; Co-Innovation Center of Jiangsu Marine Bio-Industry Technology, Haizhou, China; Corresponding authors at: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Jiangsu Ocean University, Haizhou, China.This study evaluated the effects of replacing soybean meal with snail meal on laying performance, egg quality, and blood parameters in laying ducks. Five experimental diets with graded levels of soybean meal replacement by snail meal were formulated: T0 (0% replacement), T1 (25% replacement), T2 (50% replacement), T3 (75% replacement), and T4 (100% replacement). Ducks fed the T2 (50% replacement) diet showed the highest egg production rate (87%), average egg weight (68.0 g), and egg mass (59.2 g/day), along with the lowest feed conversion ratio (2.18). Egg quality also improved, with increased yolk color score (10.0), Haugh unit (86.0), and eggshell strength (4.1 kg/cm²). Serum analysis revealed higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) (85.48 U/mL), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (148.59 U/mL), and IgG (2.34 g/L) levels in the 50% group, indicating enhanced antioxidant and immune functions. These findings suggest that replacing 50% of soybean meal with snail meal optimizes laying performance and physiological health in ducks, and offers a promising strategy for sustainable protein substitution in poultry diets.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579125005966Snail mealLaying performanceBlood biochemical parameters
spellingShingle Yunqian He
Saikun Pan
Shengjun Wu
Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
Poultry Science
Snail meal
Laying performance
Blood biochemical parameters
title Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
title_full Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
title_fullStr Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
title_full_unstemmed Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
title_short Technical note: Sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
title_sort technical note sustainable snail meal enhances duck egg production and health
topic Snail meal
Laying performance
Blood biochemical parameters
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579125005966
work_keys_str_mv AT yunqianhe technicalnotesustainablesnailmealenhancesduckeggproductionandhealth
AT saikunpan technicalnotesustainablesnailmealenhancesduckeggproductionandhealth
AT shengjunwu technicalnotesustainablesnailmealenhancesduckeggproductionandhealth