Effects of sprayed corn bran on production performance and intestinal function of growing stage Magang geese

The development and utilization of unconventional feed such as sprayed corn bran (SCB) have effectively alleviated the shortage of feed raw materials, although its application in meat geese production has rarely been reported. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of SCB on production performance, serum biochemical indices, antioxidant indices and intestinal development in 35∼70-day-old Magang geese. A total of 504 35-day-old Magang geese were randomly divided into 6 groups and fed diets supplemented with 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% SCB respectively. The results demonstrated that different addition levels of SCB exerted no significant effect on the production performance of 70-day-old Magang geese (P>0.05). The leg muscle rate of 10% group was significantly higher than that of 5%, 20% and 25% groups. Elevated MDA contents in serum and liver were observed in the 20% and 25% groups. The depth of ileal crypt in 25% group was significantly lower than that in 0% and 5% groups. In addition, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria was significantly lower in the 10% SCB group than in the 0% SCB group. Significant increases in the abundance of <i>Eubacterium_brachy_group</i> and <i>norank_f_Peptococcaceae</i> were observed in the 25% group, with a non-significant increasing trend noted in other groups. Collectively, under the experimental conditions, the dietary inclusion of SCB at levels below 20% exerted no adverse effects on the growth and development of 35∼70-day-old Magang geese.