ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1646055

This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Nutritional Strategies for Improving Health Status, Egg and Meat Quality in PoultryView all 13 articles

Effects of fermented ramie feed on the growth performance, serum biochemistry, metabolic capacity, antioxidant capacity and intestinal health of Linwu ducks

Provisionally accepted
Zonghao LvZonghao Lv1,2,3Jingmeng ZhangJingmeng Zhang2,4Cong LiCong Li5Zhen LiZhen Li1Zhizhong ZhangZhizhong Zhang3Biguang LvBiguang Lv2Xuan ChengXuan Cheng2Haohan ZhaoHaohan Zhao2*Qinghua ChenQinghua Chen1*Qian LinQian Lin2,4*
  • 1Hunan Agricultural University College of Animal Science and Technology, Changsha, China
  • 2Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Changsha, China
  • 3Livestock and Fisheries Research Institute, Huaihua Academy of Agricultural Science, Huaihua, China
  • 4Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Agricultural Biogenomics, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China
  • 5Key Laboratory of Swine Nutrition and Feed Science of Fujian Province, Aonong Group, Zhangzhou, China

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This study investigated the effects of fermented ramie feed (FRF) on the growth performance, serum biochemistry, metabolic capacity, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health of Linwu ducks. A total of 480 28-day-old female Linwu ducks (age: 28 days) were randomly divided into 5 treatments (6 replicates per group; 16 ducks per replicate). The control group received a basal diet and the treatment groups received the basal diet supplemented with by 3%, 6%, 9% or 12% FRF. The experiment lasted 21 days. Notably, 3% and 6% FRF trended to increase the final body weight (p P = 0.097) and significantly increased the thymus index (p P < 0.05). Regarding serum indices, FRF greatly reduced the triglyceride and glucose contents, and increased the catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities (p P < 0.05). Besides, FRF significantly increased the apparent metabolic rates of dry matter, crude protein, crude ash and gross energy (p P < 0.05). Furthermore, FRF remarkably improved villus height in the duodenum. FRF also increased the relative abundances of beneficial bacteria (Alistipes and Barnesiella) and reduced the relative abundances of harmful parasitic bacteria (Desulfovibrio and Enterenecus) in the cecum (p P < 0.05). Thus, partial FRF substitution greatly improved serum biochemistry, antioxidant capacity, metabolic capacity and intestinal health in Linwu ducks, thereby enhancing the growth performance to a certain extent. The optimal level of FRF substitution is 3%-6% according to the impacts of growth performance and overall health.

Keywords: antioxidant capacity, Duck, fermented ramie, growth performance, Intestinal health, metabolic capacity

Received: 12 Jun 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Lv, Zhang, Li, Li, Zhang, Lv, Cheng, Zhao, Chen and Lin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Haohan Zhao, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Changsha, China
Qinghua Chen, Hunan Agricultural University College of Animal Science and Technology, Changsha, China
Qian Lin, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Changsha, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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