Early Diet Dilution with 40% Rice Hull Induces Lower Body Fat and Lipid Metabolic Programming in Peking Ducks

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of early diet dilution with 40% rice hull on growth performance, carcass characteristic and composition of meat-type ducks, and to reveal the possible mechanism for decreased body fat deposition. 160 1-day-old White Peking ducks with initial body weight of 44.5±1.0 g were allotted to two treatments with 8 replicate pens per treatment and 10 ducks per pen (5 male and 5 female). Ducks were fed with the experimental starter diets diluted with 0% (control, RH0), 40% rice hull (RH40) during 8 to 14 d of age, respectively. Thereafter, all ducks were fed with grower diet. Ducks fed with RH40 diet from 8 to 14 d of age increased (p