Growth, Slaughter and Carcass Traits of Native Turkish Geese Reared under the Country-side Conditions

In this study, growth, slaughter and carcass traits of native Turkish geese reared under breeder conditions in Okçuoğlu village, Arpaçay, Kars were studied. Totally, 111 goslings were used in the growth experiment while 39 geese were used for slaughter and carcass traits. Birds with wing-tags were individually weighed fortnightly. There was statistical significance between the genders in terms of 8-24 weekly body weights (P 0.05-0.001). Effect of gender on the weights of slaughter, hot carcass, foot, heart, intestinal and abdominal + intestinal fat were statistically significant (P 0.05-0.01). At the end of the study, it was observed that the results gathered from geese bred in extensive system under the rural conditions were nearly similar to those obtained from the intensive system. In some cases, the former system yielded even superior results than those of the intensive one. Conclusively, furthermore, breeding the native Turkish geese in extensive system under the rural conditions was appropriate by the age of 18-22 wks.