Objective   Growth and meat productivity of a hybrid duck crossed between Ji'an red-feather duck and Taiwan white Kaiya duck were studied for future breeding.

  Method   Ji'an red-feather duck (♀) and white Kaiya duck (♂) were crossed by means of progressive hybridization followed by horizontal fixation on the new breed. The growth and meat production of the hybrid progenies were monitored.

  Result   The F₁ hybrid ducks were separated by plumage color into red- and white-feather groups to arrive at a 2:1 ratio on their counts, while the F₂ ducks into mixed-color, red- and white-feather groups at a ratio of 1:1.2:1. The F₂ red-feather ducks and white-feather ducks were cross-bred among themselves to be horizontally fixed eliminating the plumage color differentiation in their respective offspring (F₂×F₂ generation). At the early growth stage, i.e., 21-d-old, the body weight of the red-feather ducks was extremely significantly higher than that of F₁ generation (P＜0.01) with an improved slaughter yield. The percentages of carcass, breast muscle, and lean meat of all F₂ red-feather ducks, as well as the live weight, carcass weight, eviscerating percentage of the female F₂ red-feather ducks, were either significantly or extremely significantly higher than those of F₁ generation (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01). The carcass and eviscerated percentages of the red-feather ducks, the half-eviscerated percentage of the female red-feather ducks, and the abdominal fat rate of the male red-feather ducks in the F₂×F₂ generation were significantly or extremely significantly higher than those of F₁ generation (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01). The half-eviscerated percentage of all red-feather ducks and the percentages of carcass, eviscerated carcass, and abdominal fat of the male F₂×F₂ red-feather ducks were significantly or extremely significantly higher than those of F₂ generation (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01). The breast muscle percentage and lean meat rate of all white-feather ducks and the body and carcass weights of the female F₂ white-feather ducks were significantly or extremely significantly higher than those of F₁ counterparts (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01). The carcass, eviscerated carcass, and breast muscle percentages of the F₂×F₂ white-feather ducks were significantly or extremely significantly higher than those of F₁ generation (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01). The carcass and eviscerated percentages of all white-feather ducks and the half-eviscerated percentage of the female F₂×F₂ white-feather ducks were extremely significantly higher than those of F₂ generation (P＜0.01).

  Conclusion   The growth rate at early stage as well as the slaughter performance of Ji'an red-feather ducks was significantly improved by introducing the genes of the white Kaiya duck.