The objective of this experiment was to establish the effect of forced molt on body weight and hematology in White Roman geese. Twenty-four 22 months of age White Roman geese (female and male were hall and hall) with similar body weight were randomly allotted into two groups which were forced molt (FM) and control (C). Twelve geese (6 males and 6 females) were fed in one floor pen of each treatment. Feed and water were supplied ad Iibutum throughout the entire experimental period. Body weight of individual geese of each group were measured once a week. At 1, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days after picking feather, all geese in each treatment were blood sampled from wing vein for measurements of erythrocyte and leucocyte pictures. The results indicated the forced molt group was induced molt when the body weight was reduced by 30%. The White Roman geese processed molt by fasting and picking feather during the experimental period, birds had significantly decreased the average values of total red blood cell number, hemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume. The C group had significantly high leukocyte number, monocyte and Iymphocyte; however, the FM group had higher heterophil differential counts than those of C group after picking feather 1 day (P ＜ 0.05). The forced molt geese had significantly increased the average heterophil differential count and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio (P ＜ 0.05) in the whole experimental period, and the results agreed with those in the literature while H/L ratio could be as indicator of stress.
