INFLUENCE OF AGE, SEX AND PRE-SLAUGHTER HOLDING CONDITIONS ON LIVE WEIGHT AND CARCASS TRAITS OF BROILER GEESE

The effects of age at slaughter, sex and duration and temperature of holding before slaughter of geese on live weight and carcass traits, including pin feathers, were investigated. In the first experiment, dressing percent, 58.0, 57.3 and 59.6%, and carcass proportions of breast, 26.7, 29.7 and 30.6%, and wing, 17.9, 18.7 and 18.2%, increased through the period from 54, 60 to 66 days of age, while leg part, 32.8, 31.0 and 29.3%, decreased; abdominal fat was unchanged at about 3 percent. Pin feather scores were low in both male and female geese at 54 and 60 days, but increased in females only at 66 days. In the second experiment when slaughter was at 64 or 104 days, pin feather score was independent of pre-slaughter holding treatment except in female geese at 64 days, which had more pin feathers when held for 24 compared with 13 hours. When extended holding was avoided, the optimum age for slaughter of the Embden broiler goose appeared to be 64 to 66 days, when the carcass had a relatively high content of breast meat and few pin feathers.