Effects of different chicory and formula feed ratios in dietary on slaughter traits and muscle quality of geese.

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of different chicory and formula feed ratios in the dietary on the slaughter traits,muscle quality,amino acid,and fatty acid composition of Yangzhou geese,and determine the maximum tolerance to the added chicory.The results were as follows: in 12∶1(the ratio of chicory to formula feed in the dietary) group,the goose eviscerated rate was significantly lower than that in the control group(P0.05),but the leg muscle rate was significantly higher than that in the control group(P0.05).The carcass weight,slaughter rate,eviscerated yield with giblet,brisket rate,wing rate and abdominal fat rate in each group had no significant difference.Along with the increase of chicory proportion in the diet,the moisture content and muscle colour of both brisket and leg muscle,and fat content of brisket muscle were raised significantly(P0.05),however the protein content of brisket muscle declined significantly(P0.05).The excess adding of chicory caused a downward trend of amino acid content in brisket and leg muscle,especially the histidine content in 12∶1 group was significantly lower than that in other groups.The unsaturated fatty acid content in brisket was significantly improved by the increase of chicory proportion in the diet,but that in leg muscle was not significantly different among various groups.Adding chicory could significantly enhance the linolenic acid content no matter in brisket or leg muscle,especially in the former.In conclusion,the chicory has less effect on slaughter traits of the geese,but it affects the muscle quality,amino acid and fatty acid composition.The more chicory adding in the diet,the more linolenic acid content in geese muscle.