The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-05-19

case of geese, the period of incubation |
is longer than in that of fowls. Goose
eggs may be Matched in incuhators
and the goslings successfully raised III
breeders, although this is not com
mon practice.
Period of Incubation.
The period of incubation of goose
eggs varies from 2S to 80 days. Mois-
ture should be added to the eggs after
the first week if set under hens or in
incubatorS; this is usually done by
Sprinkling the eggs or the nest with
warm water. Four to six eggs are set
under a hen and ten to thirteen under
goose. They may be tested about
the tenth day, and those which are in
fertile or contain dead germs should
be removed. They hatch slowly, espe'
cially under hens, and the goslings are
usually removed as soon as hatched
and kept in a warm place until the
process is over, when they are put
back under the hen or goose. Some
breeders who hatch with both geese
and hens give all the gOSllngS to the
geese. Hens with goslingS may be CON
fined to the coop and the gosltngS al
lowed to range. The latter, especially
if the weather is cold, are not usually
allowed to go into water until they are
several days old. In mild weather the
hens are allowed to brood the goSllngs
for from seven to ten days, when the
latter are able to take care of them
selves. Good-sized growing coops,
with board floors, should be provided
for the goslings, and they must be pro-
tected from their enemies and given
some attention when on range.
Feeding Geese and GosIings.
Geese are generally raised where
they have q good grass range or pas
ture, as they are good grazers and, ex'
cept during the winter months, usually
pick up most of their living. The pas
ture may be supplemented with light
feeds of the common or homegrown
grains or wet mash daily, the neces'
sity and quantity of this feed depend
ing on the pasture. Goslings do not
need feed until they are twenty-fouf
TO thirty-six hours old, when they
should be fed any of the mashes rec
commended for chickens or ducklings'
Preparation for Market.
Before marketing the young geese
the average farmer can feed advan'
tageously a fattening ration either
while the geese are on grass range OF
confined to small yards, but it is doubt
full whether it would pay him to con
fine them to individual or small pens
and make a speciality of fattening I'M
less he has special market or retail
trade for well-fattened stock.
Geese are usually killed and picked
in the same manner as other kinds OF
poultry. Some markets prefer dry
picked geese, while in other market:
, no difference is made in the price OF
scalded or dry-picked geese. WheI
feathers are to be saved fowls should
, not be scalded, but should be picked
| dry before or after Steaming. VI
most farms where geese are raised thu
1eatlerS are piuCheu 1IOlH IIlc INV
, fowls at some time prior to moltin3
About l 40 pounds per goose is tn
average yield of feathers. Feather
, are worth from 80 cents to 81 pound
and the picking cost per goose is abou
, IL cents.
; Breeds.
, Six breeds of geese have been ad
r mitted to the American standard o
2 perfection, namely: Toulouse, Emder
5 Chinese, African, Wild or Canadial
4 and Egyptian. In addition to tn
| standard breeds there is the So-calle
r Mongrel goose, which is hybrid mad
e by crossing one of these varieties o
t the common goose with wild geese
b Crosses of the varieties of geese, es
r pecislly of the Toulouse and Finder
e are occasionally made, but without an
! apparent gain. The Toulouse, EmdeI
e Chinese and African are easily tn
D most popular breed of geese in TN
n country, the first two greatly leadin
e the other breeds. All economic breed
e of geese are kept primarily tor III
e production of flesh and feathers, an
II although their eggs are occaslonaii
e used for culinary purposes on the 1ari
v there is no demand for them Tor 100
e purposes in the markets.