Effects of dietary crude protein and metabolizable energy levels on the growth performance of White Roman Geese between 4 and 8 weeks of age - 農業知識入口網

 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME) levels on growth of White Roman geese from 4 to 8 weeks of age (WOA). Experiment was a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with two CP levels (13 and 15%) and three ME levels (2, 400, 2, 700 and 3,000 kcal/kg). Results showed that there was no difference on feed intake or BW gain for the geese fed either the 13 or 15% crude protein diets. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) of geese providing the 13% CP diet was significantly (P < 0.05) better than that giving the 15% CP diet. Calculating the protein intake of geese, a 38.2 g/goose/day protein intake was sufficient for BW gain of geese from 4 to 8 WOA. The decrease of dietary ME significantly (P < 0.01) increased the feed intake and BW gain for geese fed 13% CP diet from 4 to 8 WOA. The FCR was improved by increasing dietary ME. In conclusion, the provision of 13% crude protein with 2,700 kcal/kg ME diet was sufficient for the geese growth from 4 to 8 WOA.