Effects of White Roman gosling quality on their growth parameters, intestinal villus morphology, blood biochemistry, and nonspecific pathological lesions

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of gosling quality on their growth parameters, intestinal villus morphology, blood biochemistry, and nonspecific pathological lesions from 0 to 4 weeks old. Seventy-two goslings were randomly distributed into 12 pens, with each pen containing three males and three females in a completely randomized design of two control variables, including healthy and weak goslings. Healthy goslings all shared the same characteristics, such as good features with no abnormalities and full absorption of yolk sac. Albeit lighter body weight (<85 g/bird) and incomplete absorption of the yolk sac were found in the weak geese, no obvious disease was exhibited in them. Post mortem examination revealed that the incidence of nonspecific pathological lesions of the 4 week-old healthy and weak gosling groups were 25.0 and 50.0%, respectively. Nonspecific pathological changes of 4 week-old goslings in the liver, ileum, lung, and heart were 16.7, 12.5, 8.3, and 4.2%, respectively. The healthy goslings also had higher total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein than weak goslings. Separately raising weak goslings from 0 to 4 weeks old could increase the survival rate and reduce economic losses of feeding.