Artificial lighting and hatching applications to increase fertility of native geese

This study was carried out to increase the fertility of domestic geese by making additional lighting and to determine the effect of the applications made in the hatching application on the hatchability. The study was carried out at Yozgat Bozok University Agricultural Research and Application farm in Yozgat province between 1 November 2019 and 1 June 2020 (39° 38' 41.9208" 34° 30' 13.3878"). For the lighting application, both natural lighting and artificial lighting were applied in the henhouse by using 45 female and 15 male domestic geese randomly selected from 236 two-year-old breeding herds in this enterprise. Group 1 was 20 hours, and Group 2 was 14 hours; Group 3 was used as the control group during the hours compatible with the natural lighting times (weekly averages of natural light periods in the province of Yozgat between January and June), considering the natural spawning season dates. During the experiment, yozgat province was exposed to natural lighting (November-June). There was no statistical difference between the groups in terms of egg production (p<0,001). Egg yields per goose varied between 13.67 and 14.87 eggs in all groups. Contrary to egg yields, fertility rate, and hatchability were statistically different between the groups. The highest fertility rate was obtained in the 3rd group, which is called the changing lighting group, at 95.37% (p<0,001). While fertility was 90% in the natural lighting group, 50.66% and 45.46% fertility were determined in the 14 and 20-hour lighting groups, respectively. Incubation efficiencies were also found to be statistically different. As with the fertility rate, the highest yields were determined as 79.83% in the changing lighting group and then 77.49% in the control group. At the end of the breeding season, 5.68, 6.53, 8.74, and 11.74 queens per goose were obtained from the groups, respectively (p<0,001). In incubation practices, different cooling methods were applied with 246 eggs obtained from 132 female and 46 male two-year-old goose flocks in this establishment between 9 and 17 March 2020; Different cooling water temperatures were applied with 273 eggs obtained from the same flock between 18-28 March 2020. In the first study, cooling was done according to the shell temperature and a specific time. In contrast, the output power was determined as 89.58% in the group, which was cooled according to time. It was 84.85% in the cooling until the shell temperature dropped to 24°C. However, the exit window was 60 hours in cooling by time and 48 hours by degree. In the second study, cooling water was applied at different temperatures. While there is no difference between the output power in the incubators using +4C° and +21C° cooling water, the exit window is 48 hours in +4C° cooling water; It was 54 hours at +21C° cooling water. Additional lighting applications can increase egg production in geese, but more research is needed to determine certain traits precisely. In order to improve the effects of lighting applications and increase egg production, there is a need to develop lighting programs compatible with natural lighting periods outside the breeding season. Waiting according to the shell temperature in the first application and using +4°C water in the second application caused a shortening of the time between the first emerging and the last blade emerging, called the exit window. This situation should be expected to improve the quality of the blade.