What grass makes geese grow fast when they eat it, and is green grass suitable for feeding geese?

As the farming industry gradually expands, more and more farmers are making their fortunes by raising geese, but considering the cost of farming, many farmers feed goose grass to fatten them up, so what grass makes geese grow fast when they eat it? Green grass?

According to the grazing habits of geese and the need for a year-round supply of grass, hybrid napiergrass, bitter lettuce, and annual ryegrass can be chosen for a combined planting. In addition, where there is surplus land, some perennial juicy forage grasses such as white clover and chicory can also be planted.

Hybrid napiergrass

Hybrid napiergrass is a cross between American napiergrass and elephant grass. It fairly well combines the high yield of the male parent elephant grass and the good quality of the female parent American napiergrass, and is a high-yield, high-quality green fodder crop that likes warmth and tolerates heat and is suitable for feeding geese and other herbivorous livestock and poultry. Many years of practice have shown that hybrid napiergrass has high yield and good palatability. Its outstanding features include:

1. Strong stress resistance. Hybrid napiergrass is not strict about soil and can grow on various soils, with deep clay soils that retain water well being the most suitable. Hybrid napiergrass has a powerful root system, resists lodging, drought, and moisture, and can still achieve a relatively high yield in the dry, rain-scarce season in the south. So far, no diseases or insect pests have been found to harm it.

2. Wide adaptability. It adapts to a fairly wide range of regions, and can grow in any area where cotton or corn can be produced. In areas south of 28 degrees north latitude in our country it is perennial, sown once and used for many years.

3. High yield. In the Nanjing area, the fresh grass yield of hybrid napiergrass can reach more than 10,000 kg per 0.067 hectare. The grass supply period is relatively long, and in South China it can reach more than 300 days. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River it is transplanted in mid-to-late April, begins supplying grass around early June, and can grow until early November. July to August is the peak growth period, and in July the daily grass yield can reach 25 kg per 0.067 hectare.

The planting of hybrid napiergrass generally requires raising seedlings and transplanting. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River it is sown around the end of March, with small sheds set up and covered with plastic film for raising seedlings. Each 0.067 hectare of seedbed is sown with 1.5 to 2 kg. (It can also be direct-sown, with the sowing period from late April to mid-to-early May, and a sowing rate of 200 g per 0.067 hectare.) When the seedlings grow to 6 to 8 leaves and the temperature is stable at 12"C, they can be transplanted to the field, with a transplanting density of 3,000 to 4,000 plants. Each 0.067 hectare of seedbed can plant 1 3—2 hectares of field. Row spacing 50 cm × 45 cm.

When hybrid napiergrass is fed to geese, rabbits, and other small livestock and poultry, it is cut at 70 to 90 cm. At this time, stems account for a small proportion, the plant is almost entirely leaves, and it is tender and palatable, while also favoring regrowth after cutting. The stubble is left 10 to 15 cm high.

Bitter lettuce

Bitter lettuce, also known as small goose vegetable, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is sown in March, bolts in July, and flowers in August. It begins to be cut and used from May. Bitter lettuce is a high-yield feed that tolerates cutting and has good regrowth, and it has a high fertilizer requirement, especially needing nitrogen fertilizer that promotes many branches and lush leaves. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, 2,000—3,000 kg of barnyard manure per 0.067 hectare is applied as base fertilizer. After each cutting, combined with cultivating and loosening the soil, 5 to 10 kg of urea is applied as a top dressing. Each 0.067 hectare can harvest 5,000 to 6,000 kg of fresh grass per year. Bitter lettuce is suitable for close planting, usually by drilling, without thinning.

Annual ryegrass

Annual ryegrass is the most used forage grass in the farming industry and also one of the better-quality grasses among the grass family. Generally each 0.067 hectare can produce 5,000 to 7,000 kg of fresh grass, and high yields can reach 10,000 kg. Almost all grass-eating livestock and poultry can be fed with it.

Annual ryegrass is sown in autumn, with a sowing rate of 1.5 to 2.0 kg per 0.067 hectare. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, sowing in mid-to-late September is suitable. Some also sow at the end of August or the beginning of September. It can be cut and used once before December of that year. From February of the following year it begins to turn green and grow, and March to April is the peak grass production period. The seeds mature in early June. Sowing is generally best done by drilling, with a row spacing of 30 cm. For feeding geese and rabbits, it is cut when the plant grows to 30 to 60 cm. Generally the stubble is left about 6 cm high.

Hybrid napiergrass begins seedling raising in mid-to-late March in spring, is transplanted from mid-to-late April to early May when the seedlings grow to 5 to 6 leaves, begins to be cut and used in June, and can be used until October.

Bitter lettuce is sown around Qingming, by drilling, begins to be cut and used in mid-to-late May, and ends in late August. Its main role is to fill the gap between annual ryegrass and hybrid napiergrass.

Annual ryegrass is planted following the bitter lettuce stubble, and can begin to be cut at the end of October, when hybrid napiergrass has just finished being used, and after plowing, annual ryegrass is sown. Annual ryegrass can be used until May of the following year.

As for how many geese can be raised per 0.067 hectare of field, there must be a suitable goose-carrying ratio. At present, when raising meat geese mainly with ryegrass, they are marketed in about 70 days, and each goose eats 30—50 kg of green grass on average. On this basis, the suitable goose-carrying ratio is generally 150 geese per 0.067 hectare. When feeding geese with hybrid napiergrass, the suitable goose-carrying ratio is generally 250 to 300 geese per 0.067 hectare.