In the 14th week of the study, LW values of geese were measured by using a precision balance (Fig. 1). The difference between the groups was statistically insignificant (P < 0.05). According to the treatment groups, LW was found as 4.211±0.21 kg, 4.216±0.24 kg, and 4.210±0.22 kg, respectively for C, B, and M.
According to the regression analysis, HD had the highest effect on LW for group C (1.93). While HD value had the highest negative value in group B, it had the highest positive value for group M. It can be asserted that HD was the character that affected the live weight at the highest rate.
C for the regression equation is LW = 15.20 + 1.93 HD + 0.61 BL - 1.38 FW - 0.30 BT + 0.059 WL
B for the regression equation is LW = 39.01 - 4.80 HD + 0.75 BL - 1.45 FW - 0.34 BT + 0.16 WL
M for the regression equation is LW = - 41.10 + 4.26 HD + 0.23 BL 2 - 0.18 FW + 0.65 BT + 0.027 WL
At the end of 14th week, the difference between BL values of the groups was statistically insignificant (P < 0.05). According to the treatment groups, BL measurements were found as 7.38±0.22 cm, 7.35±0.19 cm, and 7.36±0.23 cm, respectively for C, B, and M (Fig. 2).
At the end of 14th week, WL values were found (Fig. 3). The difference between the groups was statistically not significant (P < 0.05). The highest value was found in group B (61.39±2.49 cm) and the lowest value in group M (58.71±2.96 cm).
HD values of the groups were determined (Fig. 4). The differences between the groups were statistically insignificant (P < 0.05).
Waterfowl are generally totipalmate. Palmates can be morphologically classified in four groups as palmate, semipalmate, totipalmate, and lobate. Foot structure of geese is palmate, which is mostly common (Tokita et al., 2020). The FW of the geese were measured with the help of calipers at the end of the 14th week (Fig. 5). However, the difference between the groups was statistically insignificant (P < 0.05). According to the treatment groups, FW was measured as 10.91±0.09 cm, 10.90±0.19 cm, and 10.90±0.09 cm, respectively for C, B, and M.
BT values of the groups were determined. The difference between the groups was statistically insignificant (P < 0.05). According to the treatment groups, body temperature values were measured as 40.21±0.29 oC, 40.93±0.19 oC, and 40.20±0.44 oC, respectively for C, B, and M. However, according to the clustering analysis, BT showed a significant difference from other characters in all applications (Fig. 6). While BL and FW established a group in group C; LW, WL, and HD formed a separate group. For group B, BT and HD formed separate groups, while other properties took place in the similar group. Similarity was also observed in group M.
According to the results of the correlation analysis, significant and positive correlations were found between HD and LW, between BL and LW and HD, between FW and LW, HD and BL, and between WL and LW, HD BL and FW according to 0.01 for group C (Table 1). It can be seen that similar results with group C were obtained based on the correlation analyses performed for groups B and M. Accordingly, in the study, it was seen that the correlations between the variables in the Table 1 did not cause a serious change according to the treatments.
Table 1
Correlations among some body measurements
|
LW
|
HD
|
BL
|
FW
|
BT
|
HD
|
C
|
0.95**
|
|
|
|
|
B
|
0.88**
|
|
|
|
|
M
|
0.95**
|
|
|
|
|
BL
|
C
|
0.95**
|
0.93**
|
|
|
|
B
|
0.96**
|
0.85**
|
|
|
|
M
|
0.97**
|
0.89**
|
|
|
|
FW
|
C
|
0.92**
|
0.92**
|
0.99**
|
|
|
B
|
0.97**
|
0.83**
|
0.98**
|
|
|
M
|
0.94**
|
0.88**
|
0.99**
|
|
|
BT
|
C
|
-0.64
|
-0.53
|
-0.48
|
-0.44
|
|
B
|
0.86*
|
0.70
|
0.75
|
0.75*
|
|
M
|
-0.22
|
-0.46
|
-0.25
|
-0.29
|
|
WL
|
C
|
0.99**
|
0.94**
|
0.97**
|
0.94**
|
-0.62
|
B
|
0.99**
|
0.91**
|
0.95**
|
0.96**
|
0.86*
|
M
|
0.98**
|
0.91**
|
0.98**
|
0.96**
|
-0.20
|
*: P < 0.05, **: P < 0.01 |
WC and CC weights of the groups were weighed and pH measurements were done (Fig. 7). According to the treatment groups, WC values were found as 2.30±0.34 kg, 2.29±0.41 kg, and 2.31±0.38 kg, respectively for C, B, and M. According to the treatment groups, CC values were found as 2.25±0.63 kg, 2.26±0.53 kg, and 2.25±0.74 kg, respectively for C, B, and M. In a study, WC and CC values were stated as 1.96 ± 0.45 and 1.95± 0.45 (Akbas et al., 2020). Additionally, no statistical difference was found between the pH values.
TI is a good method for the measurement of stress, fear, and welfare levels in poultry. In addition, it is the best indicator of passive fear response in poultry. In the current study, according to the treatment groups, TI was measured as 122.03±11.27 s, 124.05± 15,18 s, and 110.08± 10,69 s, respectively for C, B, and M (Fig. 8). The difference between the groups was statistically significant (P > 0.05). Group M showed a TI reaction for a shorter period when compared to groups C and B. This may be due to the fact that the mirror creates a crowd simulation without increasing the placement frequency. In addition, the mirror may have functioned for the geese to adapt to unexpected situations.
Of the geese, those that were only formed by TI without any additional response, those making sound, and those defecating, were grouped as NR, MR, and HR, respectively, and expressed as % (Fig. 9). The difference between the groups was statistically significant (P > 0.05). Accordingly, B treatment was the highest in group NR. In MR group, C treatment that did not consist of an enrichment object was the highest. This may be caused by the fact that geese were unaccustomed to the unexpected conditions. While M treatment had relatively the highest rate in HR group, its low TI duration (Fig. 9) may be a phenomenon that should be emphasized.