Monitoring the health and production of household Jinding ducks on Hatia Island of Bangladesh.

Duck rearing is an important component of sustainable living in poor rural communities, especially as a source of subsistence. A study was conducted on 118 households (N = 1,373 Jinding ducks, Anas platyrhynchus) from December 2002 to February 2004 on Hatia Island in Bangladesh with the aim of identifying the factors that limit the health and production of Jinding ducks. Overall duck mortality was 29.3%, with disease (19.7%) being a more significant factor than predation (9.6%; p = 0.001). Duck mortality also varied significantly among study zones (p < 0.001). Common diseases were duck plague (21.1%) and duck cholera (32.1%). Helminth infection was prevalent, with endemic trematode (Prosthogonimus spp., Trichobilharzia spp., Echinostoma spp.) and nematode (Cyathostoma bronchialis, Amidostomum anseris, Heterakis gallinarum, Capillaria spp., and Echinuria spp.) infections and epidemic cestode infections due to Hymenolepsis setigera. The median egg production rate per duck per household was 93 for a 6-month laying period. The odds of diminished egg production (average ≤ 93 eggs per duck per household for a 6-month laying period) was 25.4 times higher in ducks that were kept in traditional duck houses (p < 0.001) and 14.2 times higher in ducks that experienced delays in the onset of sexual maturity (days 191 and 280; p < 0.001). Ducks that were provided snails for a shorter period of time over the laying period were 18.2 times more likely to produce fewer eggs than their longer fed peers (p = 0.002). In conclusion, duck mortalities due to diseases and predation and parasitic infections appear to be common constraints on household duck production on Hatia Island. Additionally, improving duck housing and providing longer nutritional supplementation with snails increased the production capabilities of household-raised Jinding ducks on Hatia Island.