Determination of apparent nutrient digestibility of different roughage sources in geese

The aim of this study was to determine the apparent nutrient digestibility of different roughage sources (alfalfa meal, grass meal, dried sugar beet pulp) in Turkish native geese. Totally, 21 one year old, male geese were used in this experiment. Geese were divided into three groups according to the live weight and each goose was kept in an individual cage. The study was conducted according to the 3 x 3 Latin square procedure with 7 repetitions. Apparent nutrient digestibility of roughage was determined by a force feeding method. Apparent digestibility of organic matter, crude fibre, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre in alfalfa meal, grass meal and dried sugar beet pulp were determined as 47.9, 41.2 and 47.6, 43.8, 27.9 and 24.6 (P < 0.01), 22.8, 29.3 and 45.7 (P < 0.01), 6.9, 16.2 and 19.8% respectively. Apparent nutrient digestibility of alfalfa meal, grass meal and dried sugar beet pulp of Turkish native geese was found to be similar to other geese breeds.