Abstract

It would be beneficial to consider supplementary feeding of livestock as a means of increasing production, although this may be constrained by the residues produced. Silage is one of the forage feed conservation techniques that has also been the subject of interest in recent years concerning poultry feed. The present study aimed to gain insight into the potential impact of feeding cassava-based silage (CS) on the internal organs and performance of male ducks. The study was conducted using 200 male local ducks aged one day, which were then reared in cages for 10 weeks. The research design was based on a completely randomized design (CRD) with five treatments and four replications. The treatments were arranged based on the amount/percentage of silage used in the basal ration and were as follows S0 (silage ration 0 CS/control), S25 (silage ration 25 CS), S50 (silage ration 50 CS), S75 (silage ration 75 CS), and S100 (silage ration 100 CS). In further observations, several variables were considered, including body weight gain (BWG), ration consumption, ration conversion, abdominal fat percentage, spleen percentage, liver percentage, kidney percentage, heart percentage, gizzard percentage, pancreas percentage, thyroid percentage, serum thiocyanate levels, and mortality, as well as serum thiocyanate. The results indicated a notable decline in performance (p < 0.05) in BWG observations when CS was provided in amounts exceeding 25 and consumption exceeded 50. Furthermore, there was a notable increase in the weight of internal organs, which appeared to coincide with an increase in the level of use of cassava-based silage in duck rations. Based on the results of the study the use of cassava-based silage could be considered as a potential alternative or replacement for up to 50 of basal rations, without necessarily resulting in significant changes in the performance and internal organs of livestock. © The Author(s) 2025