Blood corticosterone levels in growing geese around feather gathering

Feather production is realised by gathering feathers from geese right as they start their natural moulting. The adequate gathering time coincides with the time of moulting. There is still scarce information as to whether or not gathering causes distress and pain to geese. A series of experiments was carried out by our research group to determine the effect of gathering on plasma corticosterone level in growing geese. In the present experiment, the reactions of five groups (two gathered and three not gathered groups) of 9-week-old Babat Hungarian Upgraded geese were compared regarding gathering. Blood samples were taken right before, during and 5 min, 1 and 3 h after gathering into heparinised tubes from all groups. The plasma concentration of corticosterone was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The results show that the plasma concentration of corticosterone is high in the first sample of all groups but is significantly lower at subsequent blood samplings compared to the first samples, especially in gathered geese. Compared to the first sampling, we observed higher corticosterone levels in samples collected 1 and 3 h after gathering. This was true only for groups which were not gathered, especially for the group which was not given any antistress material. From these results it can be concluded that the handling of geese causes an elevation in plasma corticosterone level and that feather gathering does not result in a higher corticosterone level than the handling or catching of the bird. Therefore, it can be concluded that feather gathering - especially when it is done adequately in time - does not cause more distress than the handling or catching of the bird.

Evaluation of goose serum amyloid a acute phase response by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Serum amyloid A (SAA) is of interest as the circulating precursor of amyloid A protein, the fibrillar component of AA (secondary) amyloid deposits, and also as an extremely sensitive and rapid major acute phase protein. Serum concentrations of acute phase proteins (APPs) provide valuable information about the diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases, and thus the relevance of APPs for monitoring the health status of domestic animals is widely accepted. More importantly, the measurement of SAA concentration assists in assessing the prognosis in secondary amyloidosis, which is a common disease of geese, affecting an increasing number of animals. In the present study we introduce a highly sensitive goose-specific ELISA method for measuring SAA concentration in goose serum or plasma samples. Samples were taken from geese of the Landes Grey and Hungarian White breeds, which were stimulated for an acute phase reaction by administration of a commercially available fowl cholera vaccine containing inactivated Pasteurella multocida. Strong and characteristically rapid acute phase responses were measured in both breeds, peaking at approximately 24 h after inoculation. The maximum SAA concentration was 1200 microg/ml. At 72 h postinoculation, the concentrations returned to pre-inoculation values. There was significantly (p = 0.004) less intense response in the control groups; however, a very mild increase of SAA levels was detected due to the stress inevitably caused by the sampling procedure.

Serum amyloid A in geese; cloning and expression of recombinant protein

We defined the nucleotide-sequence of the full-length goose serum amyloid A and compared it to SAA sequences of the duck. The aim of this work was to clone and express recombinant goose SAA and to produce antibody against this protein: Total RNA was isolated from goose liver and used to synthesise first strand cDNA. The coding region of the goose SAA cDNA was amplified by PCR using primers corresponding to the appropriate conservative regions of duck SAA mRNA. The product was subcloned into pET-15b expression vector to result in a His*Tag fusion protein expression. The protein was purified by affinity chromatography. Rabbits were then immunized against the recombinant purified goose SAA protein. The anti-SAA serum was tested by Western blotting. Full-length goose SAA mRNA sequence has been obtained and sequenced.

Relationships between force-feeding and some physiological parameters in geese bred for fatty liver

The susceptibility of geese of different genotypes and sexes to force-feeding, some plasma biochemical parameters (thyroid hormones, cholesterol, retinoids, total protein and albumin) of force-fed geese, and the relationship between force-feeding, fat storage and the above-mentioned parameters were studied. Sixty (30 male and 30 female) geese of three genotypes (Hungarian, Landes and their crossbred called Babat Hybrid) were divided in two groups at 12 weeks of age. Geese in one group (5 males and 5 females from each genotype) received mixed feeding ad libitum. Birds in the other group were force-fed with maize. After 3 weeks all birds were bled, blood samples were taken, and the above-mentioned plasma parameters were determined. Thyroxine (T4) levels were significantly lower in force-fed (11.6 +/- 3.5 ng/ml) than in control geese (22.7 +/- 4.09 ng/ml). Plasma triiodothyronine (T3) level was also lower in the force-fed than in the control group, but the difference was not significant (1.87 +/- 0.23 ng/ml and 2.11 +/- 0.28 ng/ml, respectively). Plasma total protein (TP, 45.2 +/- 4.5 g/l), albumin (ALB, 16.51 +/- 2.8 g/l), beta-carotene (BC, 3504 +/- 3107 micrograms/l), retinol (ROL, 1160 +/- 505 micrograms/l), retinyl palmitate (RP, 1745 +/- 405 micrograms/l) and total cholesterol (TCh, 4.32 +/- 0.55 mmol/l) levels were elevated in the force-fed group as compared to the control (TP = 36.4 +/- 5.1 g/l, ALB = 15.6 +/- 0.9 g/l, BC = 1657 +/- 1681 micrograms/l, ROL = 687 +/- 375 micrograms/l, RP = 1398 +/- 607 micrograms/l, and TCh = 2.83 +/- 1.98 mmol/l). All differences were significant except those found for albumin and beta-carotene. No significant sex- or genotype-related effects were observed for these parameters.