Age- and Sex-Related Changes in Body Weight, Muscle, and Tibia in Growing Chinese Domestic Geese (Anser domesticus)

Yu, Jun; Wan, Yu; Yang, Haiming; Wang, Zhiyue

doi:10.3390/agriculture12040463

Open AccessArticle

Age- and Sex-Related Changes in Body Weight, Muscle, and Tibia in Growing Chinese Domestic Geese (Anser domesticus)

¹

College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China

²

Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Agriculture 2022, 12(4), 463; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12040463

Submission received: 24 February 2022 / Revised: 23 March 2022 / Accepted: 24 March 2022 / Published: 25 March 2022

(This article belongs to the Section Farm Animal Production)

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Abstract

:

This study evaluated the changes in body weight (BW), muscle mass, and tibial parameters of growing domestic geese from hatching to 63 days. A total of 256 Jiangnan White geese (128 males and 128 females) were assigned to 16 pens (8 pens of males and 8 pens of females) and fed with the same diet until the age of 63 d. Geese were weighed at hatch and then at 7-d intervals by pen, and then sixteen birds (8 males and 8 females) were selected for measuring breast and leg muscle weights and tibial characteristics. The BW of goslings increased with age throughout the whole study, with males being significantly heavier than females after 28 d. The breast muscle (pectoral major and minor) weight increased slowly before 42 d and then increased rapidly after 42 d regardless of the sex of goslings. At 42 d, the breast muscle weight of males was significantly lower than that of females. Goose leg muscle (thigh and drumstick) weight increased slowly from 0 to 14 d, rapidly from 15 to 49 d, and almost flat from 50 to 63 d. At 63 d, the leg muscle weight of males was higher than that of females. The leg muscle of goslings grew synchronously with their BW, while the growth of the breast muscle lagged behind the leg muscle and BW. The tibia length and width increased with age, especially from hatching to 35 d and then remained with little change from 35 d onward. The fat-free weight and breaking strength of the tibia significantly increased with age, especially from 0 to 49 d. The tibia ash content of goslings increased rapidly before 28 d and gradually flattened after 28 d. During the growth of the tibia, changes in ash were considerably more advanced, followed by morphology and finally by fat-free weight and breaking strength. In summary, the BW, muscle mass, and tibial parameters of goslings showed sex differences after 28 d. After hatching, geese rapidly grew leg muscle and tibia to support their increased BW and movement.

Keywords:

tibia; goose; breast and leg muscle; body weight

1. Introduction

The Chinese people have long been in the habit of raising and eating geese. In the long process of goose breeding, many different goose varieties have been formed throughout China. Currently, farming conditions based on intensive feeding, nutrition, and genetic selection of birds to meet the growing demand for goose products are mainly focused on achieving the rapid growth of body weight (BW) and earlier market age [1]. Besides, the heterosis of commercial lines has also been used to improve growth performance. As a result, animal tissue growth patterns may have changed, especially in the breast and leg muscles, which are the primary concern in birds’ selection and breeding process. For meat-type poultry, the meat production performance is mainly reflected in the yield of breast and leg muscle, which are also important slaughter performance indicators. Previous studies on broilers and ducks have shown that the breast and leg muscles have specific muscle characteristics and growth patterns [2,3]. The data in the literature on breast and leg muscle growth in commercial geese are mainly at market age [4,5], while there are few studies on the dynamics of breast and leg muscle growth patterns from hatching to market age.

As the framework and fulcrum of the entire body development, the skeleton plays an essential role in protecting, supporting, and hematopoiesis. The status of bones, especially leg bones, may directly impact the quality of the poultry meat produced [6]. The rapid weight gain and unbalanced growth in muscle and bone of modern poultry exacerbated the occurrence of leg disease [1]. Williams et al. [7] reported that fast-growing broilers had a faster bone deposition at the periosteal surface than slow-growing broilers, which was associated with decreased mineralization, increased cortical porosity, and altered biomechanical properties. In the production of meat geese, deformations and fractures of the tibiotarsal bones also occur frequently [8]. To improve bone quality in geese, it is essential to know the structure of the bone tissue in postnatal development in geese.

Therefore, we conducted a study to understand better the changes in BW, muscle mass, and tibial parameters in Chinese domestic geese from hatching to 63 d of age. Besides, sex was also considered in this study, which is one of the important factors affecting poultry weight, muscle deposition, and bone development [9]. The data of this study can help people further understand the growth pattern of geese, which can provide more refined guidance for goose feeding and management.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Birds and Housing

The experiment was carried out on Jiangnan White goose, a 3-line-crossed commercial white goose with the characteristics of intermediate size, rapid early growth, good meat quality, and a strong tolerance and adaptability to coarse feed. The Jiangnan White goose was certified by the National Committee on Livestock Genetic Resources in 2018. A total of 256 Jiangnan White geese (128 males and 128 females) were obtained from a commercial hatchery (Jiangsu Lihua Animal Husbandry, Co., Ltd., Changzhou, China). Birds were weighed individually after hatching and allotted randomly into 16 pens: 8 pens of males and 8 pens of females. The birds were kept on plastic-floor pens (1.8 m × 1.5 m) in a closed barn with some small windows. The floor had 2 cm² square holes and was 70 cm above the ground. Feces under the net bed were cleaned daily with an automatic fecal belt. The barn was illuminated by fluorescent lamps with a light intensity of 20 lux. The lighting program was as follows: 24 h photoperiod on the first 3 d, 18 h photoperiod from d 3 to 28, 14 h photoperiod from d 29 until the end of the experiment. The temperature for the first three weeks of breeding was 26 ± 3 °C and gradually dropped to room temperature after 4 weeks of age. All birds were given the same starter, grower, and finisher diets for 0 to 21 d, 22 to 42 d, and 43 to 63 d, respectively. These diets were formulated mainly according to prior research from our laboratory [10,11] and the company’s recommendations (Table 1). All diets were fed in mash form. Feed and water were provided ad libitum throughout the trial.

2.2. Sample Collection

BW for each pen was recorded weekly until the age of 63 d. Then, one gosling per pen (8 males and 8 females) with average BW was selected. Geese were fasted for 6 h before slaughter (electrical stunning followed by exsanguination). The breast meat (pectoralis major and minor) and leg meat (thigh and drumstick) were then stripped and weighed. Both tibias were removed, much of the adhering tissue was removed by physical means, and each bone was then immersed in boiling water for 10 min to remove the remaining tissue. The left tibia was used to measure length, width, fat-free weight, and bone ash, and the right tibia was used to measure tibia breaking strength.

2.3. Tibia Parameters

The length (axial) and width (measured at mid-length of the bone) of the tibia were measured by a vernier caliper. The tibia was dried at 100 °C for 24 h, extracted by refluxing ethyl ether in a Soxhlet apparatus for 16 h, and dried at 100 °C for 24 h to determine dry fat-free bone weight. The dried fat-free tibias were ashed in a muffle furnace at 550 °C for 24 h and ash content was measured based on the percentage of the dry fat-free weight. Tibia breaking strength was tested in three-point bending using an Instron 3367 dual column universal testing system (Instron Corporation, Norwood, MA, USA). The tibia was placed horizontally on the holder, and the distance between the two pivot points was adjusted to 20 mm. The center of each tibia was broken with a probe at a loading rate of 5 mm/min.

2.4. Statistical Analysis

SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis. To determine the growth curves of BW, muscle, and tibia traits of geese, three non-linear regression models (logistic, Gompertz, and von Bertalanffy) were chosen. The equations and parameters for the growth models applied are given in Supplemental Table S1. The non-linear modeling was carried out using the NLS procedures by the Gauss-Newton algorithm [12]. The goodness-of-fit of the functions was assessed based on the coefficient of determination (R²). The Gompertz model was finally selected as the optimized model for BW, male thigh muscle, tibia fat-free weight, and breaking strength, and the logistic model was chosen for breast muscle, female thigh muscle, tibia length, width, and ash. One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc comparison was used to determine the significance of the differences between the age groups of males and females, respectively. Independent-samples t-tests were performed to assess differences in sex at the same age. The 5% level of probability was considered significant. In this particular study, 63 d was the market age for these geese, so BW, muscle weight, and tibia measurements at 63 d (100%) were used to calculate relative growth at younger ages according to the method of Applegate and Lilburn [13].

3. Results

3.1. Body Weight

The observed BW and growth curve applied to the goslings are presented in Table 2 and Figure 1. Gradual but significant increases in BW were observed at each developmental stage in male and female goslings (p < 0.05). Males were heavier than females by 28 d post-hatching (p < 0.05) and expressed differences that increased with age. The absolute weight gain of male geese was greater than that of females on days 21 to 28 and 35 to 56 (p < 0.05, Figure 2).

The growth curve equations for male and female geese are BW = 4522.86 × e^{−4.431exp(−0.053 × age)} (R² = 0.994) and BW = 3711.91 × e^{−4.323exp(−0.059 × age)} (R² = 0.995), respectively. Based on the growth curve, the asymptotic final BW of male and female goslings were 4522.86 g and 3711.91 g, inflection point ages were 27.92 d and 24.88 d, inflection weights were 1663.87 g and 1365.54 g, and fast-growth intervals were 10.52 to 49.02 d and 8.35 to 40.43 d, respectively (Table 3).

3.2. Breast and Leg Muscles

The changes of the muscle of geese with time from hatching to 63 days are shown in Figure 3. Both breast and leg muscles were significantly affected by age (p < 0.05). The breast muscle weight increased slowly before 42 d and then increased rapidly after 42 d regardless of the sex of goslings. At 42 d, the breast muscle weight of males was lower than that of females (p < 0.05). Compared to male geese, females have greater breast weight gain from 35 to 42 d but smaller breast weight gain from 49 to 56 d (p < 0.05, Figure 2). Goose leg muscle weight increased slowly from 0 to 14 d, rapidly from 15 to 49 d, and almost flat from 50 to 63 d. At 63 d, the leg muscle weight of males was higher than that of females (p < 0.05). Males had greater leg muscle weight gain than females from 49 to 56 d (p < 0.05, Figure 2). Non-linear regression of breast and leg muscles as a function of age are shown in Table 3. The inflection point ages of breast muscle weights in males and females were 54.35 d and 56.7 d, and fast-growth intervals were 46.10 to 64.91 d and 45.20 to 69.15 d, respectively. The inflection point ages of leg muscle weights in males and females were 25.49 d and 27.67 d, and fast-growth intervals were 9.71 to 41.26 d and 16.59 to 35.58 d, respectively. As shown in Figure 3C, the leg muscle of goslings grew synchronously with their BW, while the growth of the breast muscle lagged behind the leg muscle and BW.

3.3. Tibia Parameters

The changes of tibia parameters of geese with time from hatching to 63 days are shown in Figure 4. The tibia length and width were significantly increased with age (p < 0.05), especially from 0 to 35 d, and then little change from 35 d onward (Figure 4A,B). Compared to female goslings, male goslings had longer tibia length after 35 d and greater tibia width at 63 d (p < 0.05). Logistic regression for tibia length and width with age showed fast-growth intervals of 0 to 29.89 d and 0 to 27.26 d for tibia length and 0 to 33.57 d and 0 to 31.67 d for tibia width in male and female geese, respectively (Table 3).

The fat-free weight and breaking strength of the tibia increased with the age of birds (p < 0.05), especially from 0 to 49 d (Figure 4C,D). The fat-free weight of male geese was greater than that of female geese after 28 d (except 42 d) (p < 0.05). At 49 and 63 d, males had higher tibia breaking strength than females (p < 0.05). Gompertz regression for tibia fat-free weight and breaking strength with age showed that the fast-growth intervals of 8.77 to 40.85 d and 7.68 to 39.76 d for tibia fat-free weight and 8.72 to 45.75 d and 7.47 to 44.48 d for tibia breaking strength in male and female geese, respectively (Table 3).

The tibia ash content of geese increased rapidly before 28 d and gradually flattened after 28 d (Figure 4E). Logistic regression for tibia ash with age showed the fast-growth intervals of 0 to 21.18 d and 0 to 19.84 d for male and female geese, respectively (Table 3).

As shown in Figure 4F, we classified these tibia parameters into three clusters according to the fractional growth of BW and tibial parameters. The fat-free weight and breaking strength as a cluster with fractional growth were essentially the same as BW. Secondly, morphology (length and width) as a cluster with fractional growth was slightly bigger than BW. Finally, the tibial ash had the fastest fractional growth as a cluster.

4. Discussion

The Jiangnan White goose is a primary three-crossed commercial line in China. Understanding its growth pattern can help exploit its germplasm characteristics and provide more delicate management and accurate nutrition. Modeling the growth curves of animals is an effective and necessary tool for knowing animal growth patterns [14]. In the current study, the dynamics of BW of Jiangnan White geese with time showed a sigmoid or S-shaped curve, which was consistent with previous studies on Bohemian and Italian White geese and their reciprocal hybrids [15], and Sichuan White geese [16]. The whole growth process of animals consists of three periods, namely slow-growing, fast-growing, and asymptotic periods [17]. Based on the goodness-of-fit criteria, the Gompertz curve model is the most suitable to fit the BW of Jiangnan White geese. According to the model, male and female geese entered the fast-growing period at almost the same time, but male geese had faster growth rates and longer fast-growing intervals than females (38.5 days for males and 32.08 days for females). Therefore, male and female geese gradually showed differences in BW (after 28 d) with age.

The mass of breast and leg muscles is an essential economic trait and has been a critical selection indicator in the generation breeding process of livestock and poultry. In the present study, breast and leg muscle weights increased with age, but there were time differences in their development patterns. As shown by the growth curves of breast and leg muscles, the inflection age of breast muscle lagged behind that of leg muscle. Concerning the fast-growing period, the rapid growth period of goose breast muscle was after 42 d, while that of leg muscle was before 42 d. These results indicated that breast muscle is a late-maturing trait compared to the leg muscle, which was in agreement with previous studies on Sichuan White geese [16]. Sex also affected the muscle growth of goslings. Some studies have shown that female broilers have a larger cross-sectional area and a smaller density of muscle fibers than males at hatching [18,19]. The increase in breast muscle weight after hatching depends on increased muscle fiber length and area [19]. Interestingly, females had significantly greater breast muscle weight than males at 42 d. The possible reason is that the breast muscle of geese mainly increased in muscle fiber length during the early growth stages. This was confirmed by the fact that the absolute increase in breast muscle of females was greater than that of males from 35 to 42 d. As the muscles develop and the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers in males reaches that of females, males gradually exhibit the same breast muscle weights and greater leg muscle weights than females. In addition, the leg muscles of goslings grew similarly and synchronously with their BW to support the increasing BW and exercise.

Before hatching, birds have little need for strong and well-mineralized bones, and the number of minerals available in eggs may reflect this [20]. Once hatched, bird bones enter a process of growth and maturity, with the basic structural (morphology) development of and mineralization to support increasing BW and movement [20,21,22]. The strong links between bone size and mineralization and fast growth of the bird were expected. In the current study, the tibia growth pattern was similar in both sexes of geese, with a rapid increase in tibia length, width, and ash in the early stage, accompanied by the rise in tibia fat-free weight and breaking strength. The development pattern was similar to that observed by Charuta et al. [23] in White Kołuda geese. In addition, physiological differences (e.g., hormones) may make males and females differ in tibial growth [20]. With increasing age (after 21 d), males have greater tibial morphology, fat-free weight, and breaking strength than females at a certain age. Similar results were reported in Ross×Arbor Acre broiler [13] and White Kołuda geese [23]. Male and female broiler breeder chickens of the same age differed in diaphyseal diameters, with females showing consistently lower values [24].

During the growth of the tibia, changes in ash were considerably more advanced, followed by morphology (lateral and longitudinal) and finally by fat-free weight and breaking strength. At 28 d of age, the fat-free weight and breaking strength of the tibia was approximately 50% of its final value at 63 d; however, at the same age (28 d), the proportional of tibia length and width was about 77% of its final value, and the proportion of tibia ash exceeded 93% of its final value. Bone mineralization provides compressional strength to bone, and therefore the bone ash content has been used as an indicator of bone strength. However, the process of increasing tibia breaking strength was much slower than that of increasing tibia ash content, and the tibia ash content gradually leveled off after 28 d. In addition to bone ash content, the bone organic matrix also plays a prominent role in bone strength, accounting for approximately 20% of the weight of the bone [20].

In modern commercial broilers and ducks, breast muscles grow faster than BW, causing the cranial shift in the body’s center of gravity and leading to gait instability, which may be an important reason for leg disease [25,26]. Geese solve this problem well by staggering the timing of the fast-growth period of different tissues. The goose first grows the tibia and leg muscle to support the rapid weight gain, and the tibia and leg muscle are nearing or have reached a plateau before the rapid growth of the breast muscle.

5. Conclusions

After hatching, geese rapidly grew leg muscle and tibia to support their increased BW and movement. The BW, muscle weight, and tibial parameters of goslings showed sex differences after 28 d. The muscle and tibia have their unique growth characteristics. The fast-growth period of breast muscle was much later than that of leg muscle. In the tibia, the growth of ash was considerably more advanced, followed by morphology and finally by fat-free weight and breaking strength.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agriculture12040463/s1, Table S1: Growth curve equation and parameters applied to goslings.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.Y., J.Y. and Y.W.; formal analysis, J.Y. and Y.W.; investigation, Y.W. and H.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, J.Y. and Y.W.; writing—review and editing, J.Y., Z.W. and H.Y.; visualization, J.Y. and Y.W.; supervision, H.Y. and Z.W.; project administration, H.Y. and Z.W.; funding acquisition, H.Y. and Z.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was financially supported by China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA, Major new varieties of agricultural projects in Jiangsu Province (PZCZ201738), and Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Independent Innovation Fund (CX(18)1004).

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted according to the Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals, approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The experimental proposals were approved by the Yangzhou University Animal Care and Use Committee (Approval number is SYXK [Su] IACUC 2012-0029).

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available from the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest

All the authors involved in this work declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. The observed body weight and Gompertz model growth curve of male and female goslings from hatching to 63 d of age. The observed body weight is the mean and standard deviation (n = 8).

Figure 2. Absolute mass gain of body weight (A), breast muscle (B), and leg muscle (C) in goslings. The value for each specific day-age represents the average daily gain of the previous week. Values are given as means and standard deviation (n = 8). * represents significant difference (p < 0.05).

Figure 3. The dynamic change of breast muscle (A) and leg muscle (B) for male and female goslings from hatching to 63 d of age. Values are given as means and standard deviation (n = 8). Values followed by different letters (a–f; age) or * (sex) differ significantly (p < 0.05). (C) Fractional growth of BW and breast and leg muscle weights as a proportion of the measure at 63 d of age. Means represent 16 birds per age (combined male and female).

Figure 4. The dynamic change of tibia traits for male and female goslings from hatching to 63 d of age. The changes include the length (A), width (B), fat-free weight (C), breaking strength (D), and ash content (E). Values are given as means and standard deviation (n = 8). Values followed by different letters (a–i; age) or * (sex) differ significantly (p < 0.05). (F) Fractional growth of BW and tibia length, width, free-fat weight, breaking strength, and ash as a proportion of the measure at 63 d of age. Means represent 16 birds per age (combined male and female).

Table 1. Ingredient composition and nutrient content of experimental diets (as-fed basis).

Item	0 to 21 d	22 to 42 d	43 to 63 d
Ingredient (%)
Corn	58.00	59.30	59.50
Soybean meal, 43.15% CP	30.20	25.10	23.70
Wheat bran, 15.3% CP	4.80	4.40	4.70
Rice husk, 3.03% CP	3.40	7.60	8.50
Limestone	0.80	0.80	0.70
Dicalcium phosphate	1.40	1.40	1.50
DL-Methionine	0.10	0.10	0.10
Salt	0.30	0.30	0.30
Premix	1.00 ¹	1.00 ²	1.00 ²
Total	100.00	100.00	100.00
Calculated value (%)
ME (MJ/kg)	11.32	11.12	11.06
Crude protein (CP)	19.04	17.02	16.51
Crude fiber	4.54	6.08	6.42
Calcium	0.83	0.83	0.82
Total phosphorus	0.71	0.69	0.71
Methionine	0.38	0.35	0.34
Lysine	0.97	0.83	0.80

¹ Provided per kilogram of complete diet: retinol, 12,000 IU; cholecalciferol, 4000 IU; a-tocopherol, 18 IU; coagulation vitamin, 1.5 mg; thiamine, 0.6 mg; riboflavin, 8 mg; pyridoxine, 3.2 mg; cobalamin, 0.01 mg; nicotinic acid, 45 mg; pantothenic acid, 11 mg; folic acid, 0.65 mg; biotin 0.05 mg; choline, 0.45 g; Fe (ferrous sulphate), 60 mg; Cu (copper sulphate), 10 mg; Mn (manganese sulphate), 95 mg; Zn (zinc sulphate), 90 mg; I (potassium iodide), 0.5 mg; Se (sodium selenite), 0.3 mg. ² Provided per kilogram of complete diet: retinol, 12,000 IU; cholecalciferol, 4000 IU; a-tocopherol, 18 IU; coagulation vitamin, 1.5 mg; thiamine, 0.6 mg; riboflavin, 6 mg; pyridoxine, 2 mg; cobalamin, 0.01 mg; nicotinic acid, 30 mg; pantothenic acid, 9 mg; folic acid, 0.5 mg; biotin 0.04 mg; choline, 0.35 g; Fe (ferrous sulphate), 60 mg; Cu (copper sulphate), 10 mg; Mn (manganese sulphate), 95 mg; Zn (zinc sulphate), 90 mg; I (potassium iodide), 0.5 mg; Se (sodium selenite), 0.3 mg.

Table 2. Bodyweight (g) of male and female goslings from hatching to 63 d of age ¹.

Sex	Statistical Measure	Age (Days)
Sex	Statistical Measure	0	7	14	21	28	35	42	49	56	63
Male (n = 8)	Mean	80.21 ^j	235.87 ⁱ	569.67 ^h	1060.72 ^g	1664.49 ^f*	2194.16 ^e*	2838.61 ^d*	3352.31 ^c*	3649.11 ^b*	3804.62 ^a*
Male (n = 8)	SD	0.81	18.65	38.03	64.50	82.14	120.93	132.16	104.57	153.71	144.67
Female (n = 8)	Mean	79.61 ^j	238.68 ⁱ	565.94 ^h	1056.71 ^g	1582.50 ^f	2072.07 ^e	2622.39 ^d	3002.67 ^c	3160.89 ^b	3275.60 ^a
Female (n = 8)	SD	0.70	9.73	18.81	41.20	63.49	82.06	107.39	114.77	119.69	88.27
Average (n = 16)	Mean	79.91 ^j	237.27 ⁱ	567.81 ^h	1058.71 ^g	1623.49 ^f	2133.11 ^e	2730.50 ^d	3177.49 ^c	3405.00 ^b	3540.11 ^a
Average (n = 16)	SD	0.79	14.45	29.05	52.32	82.60	118.07	161.24	209.40	285.09	296.70

¹ Values followed by different letters (a–j; age) or * (sex) differ significantly (p < 0.05). SD, standard deviation.

Table 3. Estimated values of body weight, muscle mass, and tibia traits using the non-linear model ¹.

Item	Sex	Non-Liner Model	R²	Inflection Point		Asymptotic Value	Fast-Growth Interval (d)
Item	Sex	Non-Liner Model	R²	Age (d)	Value	Asymptotic Value	Fast-Growth Interval (d)
Body weight (g)	Male	Gompertz	0.994	27.92	1663.87	4522.86	(10.52, 49.02)
Body weight (g)	Female	Gompertz	0.995	24.88	1365.54	3711.91	(8.35, 40.43)
Breast muscle (g)	Male	Logistic	0.962	54.35	150.7	301.41	(46.10, 64.91)
Breast muscle (g)	Female	Logistic	0.969	56.7	167.69	335.39	(45.20, 69.15)
Leg muscle (g)	Male	Gompertz	0.960	25.49	161.23	438.26	(9.71, 41.26)
Leg muscle (g)	Female	Logistic	0.950	27.67	173.56	347.11	(16.59, 35.58)
Tibia length (mm)	Male	Logistic	0.997	12.29	7.73	15.46	(0, 29.89)
Tibia length (mm)	Female	Logistic	0.995	10.38	7.11	14.22	(0, 27.26)
Tibia width (mm)	Male	Logistic	0.961	14.74	0.52	1.04	(0, 33.57)
Tibia width (mm)	Female	Logistic	0.950	12.33	0.48	0.95	(0, 31.67)
Tibia fat-free weight (g)	Male	Gompertz	0.966	24.00	4.86	13.20	(8.77, 40.85)
Tibia fat-free weight (g)	Female	Gompertz	0.971	22.24	3.87	10.52	(7.68, 39.76)
Tibia breaking strength (N)	Male	Gompertz	0.979	27.25	269.22	731.82	(8.72, 45.74)
Tibia breaking strength (N)	Female	Gompertz	0.975	25.98	230.54	626.67	(7.47, 44.48)
Tibia ash content (%)	Male	Logistic	0.918	0.01	28.89	57.78	(0, 21.18)
Tibia ash content (%)	Female	Logistic	0.901	−2.22	28.96	57.91	(0, 19.84)

¹ Gompertz model: Y = Ae^{−Bexp(−kt)}, in which age of inflection point is on (lnB)/k with A/e value, the asymptotic value of modeled trait is A, and the fast-growth interval is from ln[2 B/(3 +

\sqrt{5}

)]/k to ln[2B/(3 –

\sqrt{5}

)]/k; Logistic model: Y = A/(1 + Be^−kt), in which age of inflection point is on (lnB)/k with A/2 value, the asymptotic value of modeled trait is A, and the fast-growth interval is from ln[B/(2 +

\sqrt{3}

)]/k to ln[B/(2 −

\sqrt{3}

)]/k.

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Yu, J.; Wan, Y.; Yang, H.; Wang, Z. Age- and Sex-Related Changes in Body Weight, Muscle, and Tibia in Growing Chinese Domestic Geese (Anser domesticus). Agriculture 2022, 12, 463. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12040463

AMA Style

Yu J, Wan Y, Yang H, Wang Z. Age- and Sex-Related Changes in Body Weight, Muscle, and Tibia in Growing Chinese Domestic Geese (Anser domesticus). Agriculture. 2022; 12(4):463. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12040463

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Yu, Jun, Yu Wan, Haiming Yang, and Zhiyue Wang. 2022. "Age- and Sex-Related Changes in Body Weight, Muscle, and Tibia in Growing Chinese Domestic Geese (Anser domesticus)" Agriculture 12, no. 4: 463. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12040463

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Age- and Sex-Related Changes in Body Weight, Muscle, and Tibia in Growing Chinese Domestic Geese (Anser domesticus)

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Birds and Housing

2.2. Sample Collection

2.3. Tibia Parameters

2.4. Statistical Analysis

3. Results

3.1. Body Weight

3.2. Breast and Leg Muscles

3.3. Tibia Parameters

4. Discussion

5. Conclusions

Supplementary Materials

Author Contributions

Funding

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed Consent Statement

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of Interest

References

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