Feed restriction of goose before and during the laying period

Abstract

Differents programmes of feed restriction have been evaluated on goose breeders kept outdoor in order to evaluate whether the spontaneous over-consumptions of feed which occur before the beginning of laying and after the peak of lay, play an important role on performances. During two successive trials, a limitation of the energy intake at 700 kcal ME/day/bird (320 g/day of a feed containing 2200 kcal ME and 170 g CP/kg) was applied from mid-november up to the date on which the laying rate reached 20% (about mid-february). This treatment induced a small, non significant reduction in the number of laid eggs and a large increase (+10 to +15%) in fertility with a positive balance of +4 goslings/goose. Two other levels of restriction (500 and 1000 kcal ME/day/bird) were tested on the same part of the laying cycle ; they appeared to be too much and not severe enough respectively. A restriction level which limits the geese body weight increase to 1.0 - 1.2 kg could be recommended. After the peak of lay (end of march), a limitation of the energy intake at 660 kcal ME/day/bird was detrimental to the laying rate (-6 eggs/goose) but is still largely favourable to the fertility rate (+15%). For this period, different feeding programmes would be probably justified for geese and ganders.