Elmas Ulutaş, Çağatay Salum, Ahmet Araman, Erkan Çalık, Mehmet Akif Boz
Hematological parameters and indicators of oxidant-antioxidant balance could provide useful information about the physiological characteristics of poultry. However, information on these parameters in native Turkish white geese of different ages and sexes remains limited. This study evaluated 40 clinically healthy native Turkish white geese aged 16 or 98 weeks (10 females and 10 males per group). Hematology was assessed manually; plasma total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) were measured with commercial kits. Two-way ANOVA was followed by Bonferroni-adjusted comparisons where appropriate. To aid the interpretation of the statistical findings, effect sizes for the main effects of age and sex, as well as for the age × sex interaction, were expressed as partial eta-squared (ηp2) and reported with 95% confidence intervals. The age × sex interaction was significant for erythrocyte count, packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and all leukocyte parameters except basophil percentage. Young males had higher erythrocyte counts and lower MCHC than adult males, whereas young and adult females had similar values. PCV was higher in young than adult geese within both sexes. Within both sexes, adults had higher total leukocyte counts, heterophil and eosinophil percentages, and heterophil-to-lymphocyte (H/L) ratios, but lower lymphocyte and monocyte percentages. No significant interaction was detected for TAS, TOS, or OSI; TAS was higher in adults, whereas TOS and OSI were higher in females. These results provide comparative data for interpreting hematological and oxidant-antioxidant measurements in native Turkish white geese at two distinct ages under similar rearing conditions.