The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1917-06-01

case OF geese, the period of incubation
Is longer than in that Of fowls. Goose
eggs may be Matched In incubators
and the gosllngs successfully raised In
brooders, although this Is not COM
mon practice.
Period Of Incubation.
The period OF incubation OF goose
eggs varies from % to 30 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 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 Matched
and kept in 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 goslings al
lowed to range. The latter, especially
II 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 goslings
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 Gosinqs.
Geese are generally raised where
they have 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
ling on the pasture, Goslings do not
need feed until they are twenty-four
TO thirty-six hours old, when they
should be fed any of the mashes rec
commended for chickens or duckllngs.
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 or
confined to small yards, but it is doubt
full whether 1t would pay him to con-
fine them to individual or small pens
and make speciality of fattening un-
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 markets
no difference is made in the price of
scalded or dry-picked geese. When
feathers are to be saved fowls should
not be scalded but should be picked
dry before or after steaming. On
most farms where geese are raised the
feathers are plucked from the live
fowls at some time prior to noting
About l ITO pounds per goose is the
average yield of feathers. Feathers
are worth from 80 cents to 81 pound
and the picking cost per goose Is about
II cents.
Breeds.
Six breeds of geese have been ad-
mitted to the American Standard Of
perfection, namely: Toulouse, Emden,
Chinese, Africc n, Wild or Canadian
and Egyptian. In addition to the
standard breeds there is the so-called
Mongrel goose which is hybrid made
by crossing one of these varieties or
the common goose with wild geese.
Crosses of the varieties of geese, es-
pecially of the Toulouse and Emden,
are occasionally made, but without any
apparent gain. The Toulouse, Emden,
Chinese and African are easily the
most popular breed of geese in this
country, the first two greatly leading
the other breeds. All economic breeds
of geese are kept primarily for the
production of flesh and feathers, and
although their eggs are occasionally
used for culinary purposes on the farm
there is no demand for them for food
purposes in the markets