Effects of Combinations of α-Lactobacillus sp. and Curcuma longa Flour on Production, Egg Quality, and Intestinal Profile of Mojosari Ducks

This study aims to determine the effect of added dietary turmeric flour and probiotics on gut characteristics and production performance of Mojosari ducks. The turmeric consisted bioactive substances, while Lactobacillus sp. produced lactic acid bacteria. The 280 laying ducks used were Mojosari ducks aged 20–28 weeks reared for eight weeks on the experimental diet. The Curcuma longa flour used was produced by Balai Materia Medika, Batu District and the liquid probiotics used contained Lactobacillus sp. bacteria in concentration of 1.4 x 1010 CFU/ml. A completely randomized design with six treatments and four replications was employed, with each experimental unit consisting of eight Mojosari ducks. The treatments consisted of T0 = basal diet, T1 = basal diet + 0.2% turmeric, T2 = basal diet + 0.8% turmeric, T3 = basal diet + 0.2% turmeric + 0.1% probiotics, T4 = basal diet + turmeric 0.8% + 0.6% probiotics, and T5 = basal diet + bacitracin 0.01%. Results were analysed via one-way ANOVA and if a significant effect (p≤ 0.05) was identified, least significant difference testing was then applied. The effect of T4 on egg production performance, feed conversion and egg weight were highly significant (p≤ 0.01) and from the results it was concluded that the best treatment was T4, namely basal dieting with the addition of 0.8% turmeric and 0.6% probiotics.