Influence of the incorporation mode of sugar beet pulp in the finishing diet on the digestive tract and performances of geese reared for foie gras production

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English. The aim of this work was to study the effects of incorporating sugar beet pulp (SBP) into the diet of geese in two feeding systems (complete pelleted feed or loose-mix feeding system) on crop development and performance. A total of 480 1-d-old male geese were divided into three groups whose diet differed from d 56 to 90: a complete pelleted diet containing 50% corn (control diet: AMEn 11.5 MJ/kg; CP 161 g/kg), and no SBP; a complete pelleted diet containing 50% corn and 10% SBP (SBPcp diet: AME(n): 11.5 MJ/kg; CP: 161 g/kg); and a mix in the same feeder (SBPlm diet) of 500 g/kg of protein-rich pellets containing 20% SBP (SBPprp: AME(n): 9.0 MJ/kg; CP: 250 g/kg) and 500 g/kg of whole corn (WC: AME(n): 14.0 MJ/kg; CP: 72 g/kg). Body traits, including crop volume, were measured at d 91. From d 91 to 106, 88 birds/group were overfed with a mixture contain-ing mainly corn and water before slaughter to measure fatty liver performance. Feed intake from d 56 to 90 was higher (+ 10%; P = 0.004) in the SBPcp group than the other two, but at d 90, the body weight (BW) of the birds was higher (+ 7%; P = 0.002) in the SBPlm group than the other two. At d 91, the volume of the crop was greater in the SBPcp group (80.4 mL/kg of BW, P < 0.001) than in the control group (60.3 mL/kg of BW), the SBPlm group being intermediate (64.1 mL/kg of BW). Feed intake (13,321 g), weight gain (2,733 g), and feed-to-gain ratio (4.9) during the overfeeding period, as well as fatty liver weight (963 g) and commercial grading, were similar (P > 0.05) between the three groups. In conclusion, the use of sugar beet pulp in the diet of finishing geese helps the adaptation of the digestive tract to the overfeeding period, even in a loose-mix feeding system based on whole corn.