Effect of feed form and dietary protein level on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing geese

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to investigate the influence of feed form and the level of dietary crude protein (CP) on the growth performance and carcass traits of growing geese. A total of 180 Egyptian geese (1 wk old) were randomly divided into 9 groups (20 chicks per group). Each group was subdivided into five replicates, with 4 birds per replicate. A 3 × 3 factorial experiment was performed with 3 types of diets (pellets, crumble, and mash) and 3 levels of dietary CP (22%, 20%, and 18% during the starter period and 20%, 18%, and 16% during the finisher period). The type of feed had significant (P ≤ 0.05) effects on body weight, body weight gain (ADG), the feed conversion ratio (FCR), and the protein efficiency ratio (PER) during all experimental periods, except ADG and PER from the 8th to 12th week. Dietary CP levels had significant effects on feed consumption (FC), FCR, and PER (p