Abstract: In order to understand the slaughter performance, muscle quality and muscle histological characteristics of Cherry Valley ducks at different days of age, 40 healthy Cherry Valley ducks at 18 and 45 days of age with similar body weight（male and female half） were selected as subjects. Slaughter traits related indexes（live weight, slaughter weight, breast muscle weight, leg muscle weight, abdominal fat weight, slaughter rate, breast muscle percentage, leg muscle percentage, abdominal fat percentage）;12 Cherry Valley ducks at 18 days of age and 12 at 45 days of age were chosen at randon to check the muscle quality traits related indexes(pH_{45 min} value, pH_{24 h} value, shear force, drip loss rate_{24 h}, drip loss rate_{48 h}, cooking loss rate) and muscle histological characteristics（muscle fiber density, muscle fiber diameter, muscle fiber spacing, muscle bundle spacing） were determined. The results showed that the live weight of 18-day-old Cherry Valley male ducks were significantly higher than that of female ducks（P＜0.01）, and the carcass weight of 18-day-old Cherry Valley male ducks was significantly higher than that of female ducks（P＜0.05）. The live weight and leg muscle weight of Cherry Valley male ducks at 45 days of age were significantly higher than those of female ducks（P＜0.01）, but chering percentage, breast muscle percentage and abdominal fat percentage of female ducks at 45 days of age were significantly higher than those of male ducks（P＜0.01）. The butchering percentage of Cherry Valley ducks at 18 days of age was significantly higher than that of Cherry Valley ducks at 45 days of age（P＜0.05）, and the percentage of breast muscle, leg muscle and abdominal fat were significantly lower than those of Cherry Valley ducks at 45 days of age（P＜0.01）. There were no significant differences in muscle quality traits between males and females at 18 days of age（P＞0.05）, and the leg muscle and pectoral muscle shear forces of Cherry Valley ducks at 45 days of age were significantly higher than those of female ducks（P＜0.05）. The pH_{45 min} value, pH_{24 h} value and shear force of leg muscle of 18-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were significantly lower than those of 45-day-old Cherry Valley ducks（P＜0.05）, and the drip loss rate at 48 h was significantly higher than that of 45-day-old Cherry Valley ducks（P＜0.05）. But there was no significant difference between drip loss rate_{24 h} and cooking loss rate（P＞0.05）. The pH_{45 min} value, pH_{24 h} value, shear force, and cooking loss rate of breast muscle of Cherry Valley ducks at 18 days of age were significantly lower than those of Cherry Valley ducks at 45 days of age（P＜0.05）, and drip loss rate at 48 h was significantly higher than that of cherry valley ducks at 45 days of age, but there was no significant difference in drip loss rate_{24 h} between them（P＞0.05）. The shear force of breast muscle of Cherry Valley ducks at the same age was significantly lower than that of leg muscle（P＜0.05）, and the cooking loss rate and drip loss rate at 48 h were significantly higher than that of leg muscle（P＜0.05）. The leg muscle bundle spacing of Cherry Valley ducks at 18 days of age was significantly higher than that of female ducks（P＜0.05）; the leg muscle fiber spacing of Cherry Valley ducks at 45 days of age was significantly lower than that of female ducks（P＜0.05）, but there were no significant differences in other indexes of the same day of age between different genders（P＞0.05）. The muscle fiber density of thigh muscle of 18-day-old Cherry Valley ducks was significantly higher than that of 45-day-old Cherry Valley ducks（P＜0.05）; the thigh muscle fiber diameter, muscle fiber spacing and muscle bundle spacing of 18-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were significantly lower than those of 45-day-old Cherry Valley ducks（P＜0.05）, and there was no significant difference in breast muscle fiber density between them（P＞0.05）. The muscle fiber density of pectoral muscle of Cherry Valley ducks at the same age was higher than that of leg muscle（P＜0.05 or P＞0.05）, and the muscle fiber diameter, muscle fiber spacing and muscle bundle spacing were significantly lower than that of leg muscle（P＜0.05）. The results indicated that breast muscle, leg muscle and abdominal fat were the main developmental tissues of young Cherry Valley ducks aged 18 days to muscle ducks aged 45 days. Muscle quality was more tender at 18 days of age than 45 days of age, female ducks were more tender than male ducks, and breast muscles were more tender than leg muscles at the same age. Muscle fiber diameter, muscle fiber spacing and muscle bundle spacing all increased with age.