SUMMARY

Goose keeping can expand the choice of basic food materials and provides materials (feather and down) for light industry. There are various ways to produce goose meat using preferably white feathered breeds. Intensively reared broiler geese attain a slaughter weight of 5 kg by 56–63 days of age; under semi-intensive keeping they reach a slaughter weight of 6 kg by 16 weeks of age, and under extensive keeping (grazing) they can be slaughtered by 22–24 weeks of age. Fattened liver is produced with 9–24 weeks old liver type (Landaise) geese via cramming (force feeding) for 14–21 days by which time the liver weight can reach 600–1000 g. Goose fat is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and along with goose meat can be considered as functional foods. The fattened goose liver is a delicacy, while goose eggs are mostly used as propagating material albeit with occasional consumption in some Asian countries. Most of the worldwide feather and down production originates from slaughtered geese; only 1–2% of the global production is removed manually. At scalding, the percentage of feather in body weight amounts to 3.8–5.5% in broiler vs. 3.4–5.3% in fattened goose, respectively. The feather and down obtainable from young geese (8–10 weeks old) per capita at their natural moulting time is 80–100 g on the first occasion. Six to 7 weeks later it amounts to 100–130 g and after another 6–7 weeks 140–170 g, respectively. In the EU only those countries where it is and was a traditional practice are allowed to harvest feathers from and force-feed geese. Some believe the objection and ban of these activities are scientifically unfounded.

概括

养鹅可以扩大基本食品原料的选择，为轻工业提供原料（羽毛和羽绒）。有多种方法可以使用最好的白色羽毛品种来生产鹅肉。集约化饲养的肉用鹅在 56-63 日龄时达到 5 公斤的屠宰体重；在半集约化饲养下，它们在 16 周龄时达到 6 公斤的屠宰体重，在粗放饲养（放牧）下，它们可以在 22-24 周龄时屠宰。肥肝是用 9-24 周龄的肝型 (Landaise) 鹅通过填塞（强制喂食）14-21 天产生的，此时肝脏重量可以达到 600-1000 克。鹅脂肪富含多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA），与鹅肉一起被认为是功能性食品。肥鹅肝是一道佳肴，而鹅蛋主要用作繁殖材料，尽管在一些亚洲国家偶尔会食用。世界上大部分的羽毛和羽绒生产都来自屠宰的鹅；只有 1-2% 的全球产量是手动去除的。烫毛时，肉鸡的羽毛占体重的百分比分别为 3.8-5.5% 和育肥鹅的 3.4-5.3%。第一次自然换羽时，幼鹅（8-10 周龄）的人均羽毛和羽绒为 80-100 克。6 到 7 周后分别达到 100-130 克，再过 6-7 周后达到 140-170 克。在欧盟，只有那些曾经是传统做法的国家才被允许从鹅身上采集羽毛并强制喂食。一些人认为反对和禁止这些活动在科学上是没有根据的。