Effective use of geese for sustainable management of vegetation in orchards

这项研究是为了获得有效利用鹅以实现果园植被可持续管理的基本信息。(1)杂草防除：与其他植物相比，自由放养的鹅更喜欢草，利用自由放养的动物控制日本梨园的杂草是有效的。(2)肉用性能：散养鹅(不添加饲料)的生长有逐渐提高的趋势，放牧期末平均体重为2820g。(3)产蛋率：草场不补饲散养鹅的产蛋率低于饲喂配合饲料的鹅，但产蛋率可达24%左右。这些结果表明，利用散养鹅进行果园杂草防除是有效的。

This study was carried out to obtain basic information on the effective use of geese for sustainable management of vegetation in orchards. (1) Weed control: free-ranging geese tended to prefer grasses to other plants and the use of free-ranging animals for weed control in the orchard of Japanese pears was effective. (2) Meat productivity : the growth of the free-ranging geese (no supplementary feed) tended to increase gradually, and their mean BW was 2,820g at the end of the free-ranging period. (3) Egg productivity : free-ranging geese that were not provided supplementary feed in the pasture had lower egg productivity than did the geese fed with formula feed ; however, an egg production rate of approximately 24% could be achieved. These results indicated that the use of free-ranging geese for weed control in the orchard was effective.