Digestion of Cellulose and Cellulose Fractions in Geese

Abstract

Since the digestive system of poultry is quite short, the residence time of the feeds in the digestive system is also short. In addition, many poultry species have a low ability to digest and utilize cellulose, cellulose fractions (ADF and NDF) and non-starch polysaccharides. Therefore, it becomes necessary to use more expensive feeds with high nutrient content in poultry nutrition. This situation raises the prices of animal products such as white meat and eggs. In order to turn this disadvantage in poultry feeding into an advantage, alternative poultry with a stronger digestive system, better digestibility of cellulose-rich cheap feed sources and better utilization of roughage are needed. When evaluated in terms of its characteristics, it will be seen that one of the poultry that can better benefit from cheap feed sources is goose. The efficient use of cellulose-rich feeds, such as goose, reduces feed costs and provides a suitable opportunity to produce cheaper poultry products. Encouraging goose production can be an important source of income and livelihood, especially for the rural population. It is thought that goose breeding can be an important alternative for white meat and egg production because it benefits from cellulose-rich feeds better than other poultry. In this review, the microbial digestion properties of geese, their ability to benefit from cellulose fractions, especially cellulose, and non-starch feed elements were examined.