About American Geese - Moose Manor Farms About American Geese All About American Geese (I no longer raise Americans) Henry Goosey-Goose of Moose Manor “Whatever you say about geese with conviction, they’ll make a liar out of you,” says Dave Holderread, a goose raiser since 1961 and author of The Book of Geese: A Complete Guide to Raising the Home Flock (1981). “They’re very much like people, but on a less sophisticated level.” Strict vegetarians, ace lawnmowers, excellent watchdogs, intelligent, individualistic, opinionated, sociable, and good conversationalists. Geese are great if you have the room: a fair-sized lawn or a small meadow, and a pond helps, but it's not essential. They're very little trouble, they can get most or all of their food from grazing and they help control weeds. The American goose is one of the few domesticated goose breeds which originated in the United States.

Some believe the breed was developed from buff mutations in flocks of wild Graylag geese and others think they may have been created from buff colored geese, like the Buff Back, Pomeranian and Pilgrim which came from Europe. This breed is a medium to heavy, smooth breasted, and double lobed, with a stance similar to the Embden Goose. The American is a calm, sociable and friendly goose, very loyal and affectionate, particularly to its owners. It's graceful, elegant and a bit on the curious side, nearly always with his beak up in the air, looking all around to see if there might be something new to check out. This is a truely lovely goose to watch gliding along through the barnyard with flock in tow on the way to grazing. And it's a real treat to see them acting a bit silly while splashing in the pond, bup-bup-bupping their conversations, and racing from one pool to another to jump in and out playfully. The American Buff is a medium-large weight goose with ganders weighing about 20 pounds and geese weighing about 18 pounds at maturity. Buffs are a medium shade of buff with no grey.

The best colored offspring are a lovely apricot-fawn color. American Blue and Lavender Ice are two handsome varieties of the the American goose which are the fruit of Dave Holderread's 20-year investigation of the genetic intricacies of blue color in domestic geese. The plumage of the Blue is a pretty bluish-gray; the Lavender Ice is an exquisite silver-lavender. Bills are orange and the eyes are brown. These geese have the same solid conformation as the American Buff, and typically weigh between 14-22 pounds. Most females lay 30-45 eggs in the spring breeding season if eggs are gathered daily. When allowed to set, they make excellent natural parents. The goslings are hardy, fast-growing and superb foragers. With their unique colors and many practical attributes, they make a superior goose for the homestead or yard. Americans are good-natured and, on the whole, non-aggressive but they still retain the spirit of most goose breeds: they make noise when they sense danger. It’s this watchdog characteristic that geese are best known for. One of the most famous stories about Ancient Rome is the legend of the Capitoline Geese.

When Rome was routed in 390 BC by the Gauls, the Romans took refuge on Capitoline Hill. For 7 months the Gauls held the city at siege but one night while the Romans slept the Gauls attempted to sneak up the hill. Before they reached the summit the Capitoline Geese honked and squawked until the Romans woke and forced the Gauls to the bottom and saved the city. Not just good watchdogs, they also will help you maintain a perfect sustainable garden - using geese to control weeds is an excellent practice. They don’t compact the soil the way machines or people do. They will happily and industriously work seven days a week, rain or shine. Their agile necks allow them to pull weeds close to and from within the crop plants, where machine or hoe can’t. All of this is accomplished while the geese are naturally spreading nitrogen-rich manure all over the field. It’s important to start them on weeds as goslings rather than lush grass and provide them with plenty appropriate forage so they don’t resort to eating your crop. Just be sure to lock them out of the strawberry fields before they can steal all your ripe berries!

Geese don’t lay as many eggs as ducks each season, however, one goose egg is a meal for two. Geese are primarily spring layers. If adequately fed in mild climates, geese often begin laying the first part of February or early March. Geese typically lay every other day although some females will ovulate two or more days in succession. Unlike their next of kin, the domestic ducks who nearly always deposit their eggs in the early morning, geese lay throughout the day. Peak production is reached during moderately cool weather, and normally slacks off soon after the mercury consistently climbs to 80 degrees or higher during the daytime. They love to have a laying nest provided in a shelter or in a barn so they can lay their eggs in a quiet and secure environment. The American geese are also very good parents and take good care of their goslings. Even a single gander will adopt goslings. Females will often go broody and are good setters, hatching out their fuzzy little goslings in 27 to 32 days.

If fed a balanced ration with vitamins and minerals that has 18 to 20 percent protein a month prior to and throughout the laying season, American geese can produce goslings in their first year. When a year-old goose is allowed to incubate her own eggs, Dave Holderread suggests that the first clutch be removed, encouraging the goose to lay a second nest-full which should hatch better. Ganders can be aggressive during the breeding season, because their big job is protecting the sitting goose or young goslings. True partners, you'll find that a gander will share in the brooding and rearing duties to give the mother goose a break to leave the nest from time to time. The gander may sit on the eggs to keep them warm while the goose gets a bite to eat and attends to the call of nature. And if a gosling hatches ahead of the rest, once it's dry the mother will often pass it off to the gander to care for while she hatches the rest of the brood.

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists the American Buff goose as critically endagered in the U.S.; meaning there are fewer than 500 breeding birds and five or fewer primary breeding flocks. More information about ALBC and the waterfowl census can be found on: . . Because of their fast growth rate, medium size and white feathers, Americans are a wonderful choice for meat production. Goose is traditionally a more popular holiday bird in Europe than in the U. S., probably because in America, turkey (wild and plentiful at our founding) was a natural choice for the Christmas feast. However, goose meat is darker (including the breast), fuller bodied, and more intensely flavored than our common commercial turkey. Of all fowl, goose meat offers the most opportunities to match with wine. Unlike turkey, roast goose can be served without a sauce, as the meat is moist, but would benefit from the use of chutney made using nuts and fall fruits (grape juice, apples, pears, figs, walnuts and hazelnuts).

For centuries goose fat has been hailed as tasty and texturally rich, the French are famous for their cassoulet using goose fat, beans and vegetable, but most famous of all now is confit of goose or duck. If properly prepared, a confit of goose or duck is crisp, deliciously rich, and delightfully satisfying. A case for the return of the Christmas Goose: Turkey has been crossbred for the commercial market, so its meat has become more or less mushy (not the case with heritage turkey breeds). Geese have been spared this fate, and the natural cycle of raising geese is still intact: hatching, between April and July, and harvesting in September. . The Livestock Conservancy Docile, Active Cotton Patch Goose Once commonplace on farms in the southeastern United States., the Cotton Patch is a breed of goose that gets its name from the job it performed. These geese were used to weed cotton and corn fields up until the 1950s. Cotton Patch geese are remembered in the rural south for helping many farmers and their families survive the Great Depression by providing a regular source of meat, eggs, and grease.

The breed’s beginnings are not clear but it is thought to have descended from European stock brought to the U.S. during the colonial period. Cotton Patch geese possess many qualities in common with other sex-linked European breeds such as the Shetland, West of England, and Normandy geese. However, these breeds are recent importations to North America, and have not played a role in the development of the Cotton Patch goose. The Cotton Patch goose is the remaining relic of a little known American breed of goose with parent stock that probably shares common ancestors with these other sex-linked geese. Cotton Patch differ from other sex-linked goose breeds by having pink or orange-pink bills, light weight bodies, and the ability to fly. The Cotton Patch is a “sleek” goose that resembles Greylag geese from which all European geese descend. The breed is a light- to medium-sized goose. They are a landrace breed, and there is some variability between strains. Their smaller size allows them to tolerate hot weather better than heavier breeds of geese. The Cotton Patch is an “upright” goose with tail in line with back and wings, giving it a clean wedge profile.

The Cotton Patch’s body is more elongated and less rounded than breeds such as Shetland or Pilgrim goose. The paunch is minimal and when present has a single lobe. The Cotton Patch’s head is rounded and the beak is dished. One strain more closely resembles the Pilgrim goose and has a beak that is slightly “roman”. The ganders in this strain tend to have as many gray feathers as Pilgrim ganders, but these feathers are all dove gray – unlike the Pilgrim in which they can be slate gray. Cotton Patch geese have the ability to fly well beyond their first year, easily clearing 5-6 foot fences without a running start. Although this may seem like a fault to some, this ability often allows the birds to escape predators. As would be expected from their history, they are excellent foragers, and goose breeders should continue to select for this trait. Cotton Patch geese are very rare, and in need of serious conservation breeders.

Photo by Mark See 1000+ images about Heritage Geese on Pinterest | Raising, Ducks and Eggs Forward Toulouse Taking their name from the famous city in France, Toulouse Geese (along with White Embdens) are the most popular commercial geese sold in America. The varying shades of gray in the plumage emphasize their deep, rounded breasts and massive appearance. Expect fall weights of 18 to 20 pounds for males and 12 to 13 pounds for females. See More The Livestock Conservancy Docile Pilgrim Goose It is difficult to tease the facts from the romance in the origin of the Pilgrim goose. Popularly thought to have come to America with the pilgrims, the Pilgrim goose, as we know it, is a recently developed breed. The sex of both goslings and mature Pilgrim geese can be distinguished by the color. This is known as auto-sexing. Poultry scientist Robert O. Hawes has found numerous references to auto-sexing geese in colonial America, western England and Normandy, France, but the breed was never referred to by a name.

According to some authorities, the Pilgrim goose is related to the now rare West of England goose, another auto-sexing breed, which could possibly have arrived with early colonists. Dave Holderread, an experienced waterfowl breeder and an author on waterfowl husbandry and conservation, concludes that small populations of auto-sexing geese likely existed in a number of locations. He states that "studies on the inheritance of plumage color and patterns in domestic geese have shown that when gray-colored geese and white geese of European descent are crossed, their offspring, when intermated, will produce some progeny that carry auto-sexing plumage color similar to that seen in Pilgrims," (Holderread, 1986). But Oscar Grow, a leading authority on waterfowl in the 1900s, claims to have developed the breed in Iowa, and that his wife named them in memory of their relocation - or pilgrimage - to Missouri during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Authorities agree that the breed was first documented by the name "Pilgrim" in 1935, corresponding with the Grow family's pilgrimage.

The Pilgrim was admitted into the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1939. The Pilgrim goose is known for being calm and personable. It is one of two American goose breeds that is sexually dimorphic (auto-sexing), the other being the Cotton Patch breed. Day-old males are silver-yellow with light-colored bills, in contrast to the olive-gray females with their darker bills. Adult ganders [males] are mostly white, usually with gray rumps (which are covered by the wings) and traces of color in the tail and wings. Mature geese [females] are soft dove-gray with varying amounts of white in their faces. Bills and legs are orange in both sexes, while the eyes are blue in ganders and dark brown in geese. Pilgrims are medium-sized geese, weighing 13 - 14 pounds at maturity. The head is trim, the crown is often slightly flattened and the neck is average in length and thickness. Their bodies are full and plump, with a smooth, keel-less breast. They should have two rounded fatty lobes on the abdomen.

Properly managed, they lay 35-45 six to seven ounce white eggs annually. "Pilgrims are rugged, quiet, docile, good foragers, excellent natural parents and make good medium-sized roasting birds. Because they are sex-linked for color, it is a simple matter - even for the novice - to keep the correct ratio of males to females when selecting young for future breeders. Ganders can be mated with three to five geese" (Holderread, 1981). When selecting for breeding stock "look for broad backs and breasts that are keel-less. Stay away from using birds with any sign of a knob (an indication of crossbreeding), long necks and legs, shallow breasts, ganders with excessive gray in the plumage and geese with predominantly white necks. Because Pilgrims are noted for being sweet-tempered, this trait should be considered when retaining birds for reproduction" (Holderread, 1981). For those seeking a medium-weight goose, Pilgrims are an excellent choice for the home goose flock. Holderread, Dave. 1981. The Book of Geese: A Complete Guide to Raising the Home Flock.

Hen House Publications. Holderread, Dave. 1986. Breed Bulletin #25, "Pilgrim Geese." Available at: (Accessed 2013) You may be interested in... 1000+ images about Heritage Breeds of Geese on Pinterest | The heritage, Grey goose and Raising Forward Cotton Patch Geese is a very rare breed known for their excellent temperament as well being sex linked. #babygoatfarm Cotton Patch geese are listed as critically endangered by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Also Cotton Patch Geese unlike most domesticated geese can fly. In the photo below the gander is in the back while the goose is in the front See More Is a American Buff Goose the Right Domesticated Goose for You? More member photos > from breeders/sellers (Breeders and sellers have to jump through hoops to get RightPet listings, literally, we make them do circus tricks. Unfortunately no one has met our high acrobatic standards for this animal yet, but hopefully they will soon!) from shelters/rescues (We've had no luck finding any of these frisky fellas so far, even though we've put up wanted posters and everything!

But don't worry, we're working on it!) Domestic Geese Here are products that members feel are just right for your American Buff Goose ! Used Book in Good Condition $28.39 Murray McMurray Hatchery - Goslings Goslings Home / Other Fowl / Waterfowl / Goslings Goslings Geese have a long and distinguished history. Domesticated in Ancient Rome, China, and Bible Lands, geese are even pictured on the Pyramids. In Central Europe a newly married couple could expect young geese as a highly prized wedding present. Geese can be expected to breed past 30 years of age and a 40 year old is not uncommon. 101 years of age is the record. Geese are raised primarily for meat today but we have many customers who also use the eggs for baking and the shells for decorative arts. Goose down goes into everything from an old-fashioned feather bed to a modern lightweight jacket. Geese are easy and inexpensive to raise, quick to grow, and a delight to behold. Your goslings ordered from McMurray Hatchery, as they mature, will return their cost many times over in pleasure and profit.

Before ordering goslings, please check with the Regulatory Agency in your state that controls wildlife management. You may need a permit. SMALL ORDERS: We are able to send you as few as 2 ducks or geese. They will be specially boxed with a heat pack to assure they arrive in great shape. For orders of less than 10 ducks or geese, there will be a small order charge of $45 to cover the shipping, special handling, heat pack and boxing fees. You may order all one breed or combine different breeds to complete your order. All Geese are sold as Straight Run Only PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS * DO NOT FEED TOO HIGH OF PROTEIN 0-2 WEEKS 21% Raising Geese: The Basics - Sustainable Farming - MOTHER EARTH NEWS Video Raising Geese: The Basics Get your goose! Whether you want eggs, meat, feathers or pest control, this hardy, multipurpose livestock may be a perfect fit for your homestead.

By Liz Wright Whether you want to begin your journey to a more self-reliant life in the garden, in the kitchen, in the chicken coop or even in the wild, “Natural Living” has advice and inspiration to help you get started successfully. COVER: GAIA/OCTOPUS Print Email The following is an excerpt from Natural Living: The 21st-Century Guide to a Self-Sufficient Lifestyle by Liz Wright (GAIA/Octopus, 2010). From teaching you how to preserve your garden harvests to how to cut your energy consumption, Natural Living is a terrific resource for families and individuals looking to move toward a more gentle, green and self-sufficient way of life. This excerpt is from Chapter 4, “Raising Your Own.” Geese have been domesticated and bred, mainly for meat, for generations, but have resolutely resisted efforts to be kept intensively. A goose’s natural inclination to utilize good grass and to forage makes it a very useful bird. These hardy birds have been useful to humans for many years, from guard birds to the modern hybrids for the table. For a small-scale farmer or self-supporter, geese do best if they can forage on good grass.

They are ideal birds for an orchard, clearing up windfalls and getting much of their nutrition from good-quality grass in summer and early fall. Choosing a Breed Although they are kept primarily for the table, some people like to use the birds as guard geese — Chinese geese in particular are suitable for this. In the past, their feathers were used for writing quills and down quilts, and the birds were also a source of grease and fat. Goose breeds are divided into light, medium, and heavy. The light Chinese goose originated from the Asiatic Swan goose. It is incredibly noisy, making it a superb guard goose. It’s the best layer, producing up to 80 eggs a year. Originating in Germany, the heavy Embden is a large, hardy white goose, with a gander weighing in at up to 34 pounds. Their size makes them good table birds, and they produce 20 to 25 eggs a year. They can be protective and should not be kept if you have small children or pets. The Roman and Roman Tufted, both light breeds, are compact, pure white geese. They are great for beginners, being kind, good all-rounders and easy breeders.

They lay 30 to 60 eggs per season, and one gander can breed up to five geese. The Pilgrim and West of England, both auto-sexing breeds (the sexes are different colors), are good examples of breeds that were developed by small farmers to graze rough ground while producing good carcasses. The American Buff is a large breed that was developed to be a heavy table bird and will put on weight with good grazing. Commercial breeds tend to be white. They grow quickly and produce up to 50 eggs a season. They are excellent to keep, as long as you don’t mistake them for the pure breeds. Buying Geese Geese can be purchased at all ages, but goslings are bought in late spring and grown on grass for the Christmas market. Young goslings need heat if they don’t have parents, and they are not waterproof until their preen glands are activated, so they must not get wet and chilled when “fluffy” (in down). It’s often hard to be sure of the sex of some breeds of adult geese. Feeding Geese Goslings begin on starter crumbs, but by two months old good grass should be providing much of their ration.

By four months, depending on the quantity and quality, they can survive on grass alone with perhaps some grain. In late summer to early fall, when the quality of grass diminishes, they will also require a balanced supplementary feed such as a finisher pellet if they are heading for the table. Breeding birds will need a breeder feed — a sitting goose cannot get her nutrition and still sit on the eggs. Don’t ever underfeed your birds — give them as much as they will clear up. Laying birds and young birds especially need extra food. Grit for the gizzard to work properly will be available naturally to grazing geese, but it’s still best to put some out in a dry feeder. Water for Geese The heavy geese appreciate water that will hold their weight, but the lighter breeds can manage with a pool in which they can immerse themselves. Like ducks, they need to be able constantly to clean their heads by dipping them under water and be able to splash. Housing Geese The house must have sufficient headroom with ventilation above, and be solid, so that predators cannot get in.

A strong wooden shed with wire windows sited where it is not exposed to strong sun would provide good, safe shelter, but you can also adapt small barns and existing buildings. The doorway must be wide enough to let more than one bird through at the same time. Use shavings or straw for bedding. Moldy bedding and poor ventilation will cause respiratory problems. Geese Predators Geese are at risk from predators, including comparatively small ones like mink or foxes, and they need protection, particularly at night when they must be shut up safely from dusk until the morning every day. During the day, predator-proof fencing may be needed around an orchard in some areas — use small mesh wire netting sunk into the ground and high enough with the top bent over to discourage climbers. You can also use electric fencing to deter predators. If they have access to natural water, watch out for water-based predators, including mink. Geese Diseases Geese suffer from bumble foot if they step on something sharp and the wound becomes infected, and this can be incurable. Prevention is better than cure, and geese do best if they are kept as naturally as possible but protected from predators.

Correct feeding, watering and sufficient exercise will ensure this naturally hardy bird thrives. Produce From Your Geese Geese are large birds and are not at all easy to kill. You must make sure that you are able to slaughter your birds quickly and humanely. You must seek expert advice and guidance before you attempt to kill a goose. If you want to save the down, the bird must be at least 16 weeks old and be dry plucked. They are hardest to pluck at 12 to 16 weeks, when they are molting their first set of juvenile feathers. However, many small-scale producers prefer wet plucking, when the bird is dunked into hot water for a couple of minutes. There are also plucking machines that you can use. Don’t underestimate the time it will take you to pluck your geese, at least when you are doing it for the first time. The eggs are in demand for cooking, hatching and decorating, and they will command good prices if marketed correctly. Although a good laying goose will produce only a quarter the number of eggs of a high-laying chicken, the eggs can be worth up to 10 times more.

Goose and Gander If the goose dies, do not expect the gander to immediately accept any another goose — they are selective. Raising Geese Raising Geese Raising Geese By Diane Schivera, M.A.T. Raising geese can be a joy – or a headache. Any farm or homestead venture needs to suit your property and personality, and must work cohesively with other activities. If you like peace and quiet, don’t acquire very vocal African geese. Weeder geese for use on a greens growing operation is another bad fit. Breeds Toulouse is the largest breed of geese; the Mammoth Dewlap strain can reach 26 pounds. Its back is dark gray, chest light gray, bill pale yellow, and the shanks and feet are red to orange. Embdens, large white geese, are better at sitting on eggs than Toulouse. They are good breeders, and their white pinfeathers make them easier to pluck. African geese adults can weigh up to 20 pounds, are grayish brown with a lighter breast, black beak, orange legs and feet and a black knob on their head.

They are particularly noisy and have dark pinfeathers, so are more difficult to pluck because bits of pinfeathers are difficult to see against the dark skin. American Buffs are a light buff color with a white chest. They reach 14 to 18 pounds and have light colored pinfeathers. These nicely behaved birds, easy to work with, are good grazers and are recommended as weeders. Chinese geese can be white or brown. The whites have an orange knob and bill; browns have russet brown feathers, a brown head, a dark gray knob and bill. They weigh 8 to 12 pounds and are productive egg layers. Their long neck makes them swanlike and good at weeding around plants. Pilgrim geese are fast growing, efficient meat producers. This is the only breed in which the sexes are different – females gray with a white breast and hazel eyes, males white with blue eyes. This very docile, medium-sized breed makes a good weeder. Tufted Romans are small, talkative geese with round bodies and enough meat to butcher. They are much less aggressive and more tolerant than Chinese and are good weeders.

Handling Geese Good handling of all livestock requires quiet determination. Geese are large birds and must be handled carefully to avoid broken bones or dislocated joints. To catch a goose, first corner it so that you can easily access it. Then put one hand around the neck near the body, holding firmly. Next put the other hand on the back of the goose, over the wings. Let go of the neck and slide your hand, palm side up, under the breast and to the abdomen to support the bird’s body. Lift the goose, holding the legs between your fingers to keep from getting scratched and confining the wings to prevent them from flapping around. Getting Started Purchasing adult geese is a good idea if you don’t have the patience or facilities to accommodate a gosling nursery; but any animal is cutest when young, and you are more likely bond with each other if you get young stock. Goslings that arrive during cold weather need to be brooded in a 90 F environment the first week, reducing 5 F per week until 70 is reached. As with raising all birds, monitor goslings’ behavior.

They pant or try to get away from the heat lamp when they’re too hot, or talk more and huddle together when they’re too cold. By six weeks they will have most of their feathers, will be able maintain their body temperature and can stay outside without daytime shelter. The brooder space for goslings should provide at least 1/2 square foot of floor space per bird at first, increasing to 1 square foot by two weeks. If birds will remain confined, provide additional floor space as they grow. Give goslings a non-slip surface during the first week. Goslings have weak legs and can suffer from spraddle leg if their legs go out to the side when they slip on a smooth surface. If this happens, tie their legs together above the hocks until they can stand properly. If birds arrive during warm weather, they can go onto pasture after a few days, if they are supplemented with grain and confined at night. Feed Feed requirements for goslings depend whether they are getting straight feed or their feed is supplemented with fresh cut greens or pasture. For the first six weeks, birds getting straight grains can eat waterfowl starter at 22 percent protein or chick starter.

Be cautious with commercial chick starter: Certain coccidiostats included in starting and growing mashes may cause lameness or even death in goslings. If the birds get green grass as the major part of their diet, they can be fed something as simple as a mash of 4 parts ground corn and 1 part middlings. After two weeks they will need only a little grain at night to encourage them into their house. Raising Your Own Goslings Geese are generally good setters and take good care of their young. Only minimal housing is required (access to pasture is almost more important), primarily to keep them dry and protected from predators. So, if the birds you raised from goslings or purchased are good representatives of their breed, you can then raise your own goslings. Remember that these goose-raised goslings still need appropriate feed and water. Incubate eggs from your pairs, following equipment directions and paying particular attention to humidity. The incubation period is 30 days. Geese will not start laying naturally until late winter or early spring. For fall or winter egg production, gradually increase the daylight period to 14 to 16 hours three to four weeks before you want eggs or goslings.

Large breeds of geese generally mate best in pairs and trios. Ganders of some lighter breeds can mate satisfactorily with four or five females. Males usually mate with the same females year after year. So having more than one female is advantageous, in case one is lost. In the first year, pairing should be made at least one month before breeding season. Sexing a goose without examining its reproductive organs is difficult. Here is one method to examine the organs: Lift the goose and lay it on its back on a table or over your bent knee, with the tail pointed away from you. Move the tail end of the bird out over the edge of the table, bending it downward. Insert your pointer finger (a little Vaseline on the finger helps) into the cloacae about half an inch and move it around in a circular manner several times to enlarge and relax the sphincter muscle. Then apply pressure directly below and on the sides of the vent to expose the sex organs. The male organ can be difficult to unsheath – leading the inexperienced to call a bird a female if, after slight pressure, the corkscrew-like male organ is not exposed.

However, only the presence of a rosette-shaped female genital eminence positively identifies a female. Water All animals require water, but waterfowl also like to know where their water is at all times. In fact you can move them around a pasture by moving their water tub. Keep goslings dry, however, until they have all their feathers and can maintain their body temperature. Place their waterer on a wire mesh, with a tray below to catch spilled water so that they cannot play in it. Grazing and Weeding Geese are the closest foragers known, and adults can glean their entire diet from grazing quality pasture. They can be very selective and tend to pick out the palatable forages, rejecting alfalfa and tough, narrow-leaved grasses and selecting more succulent clovers, bluegrass, orchard grass, timothy, bromegrass and crabgrass. Beware: If the pasture does not supply feed they like, geese can get thin because of this pickiness. An acre of pasture can support 20 to 40 geese, depending on pasture quality and on the age and breed of geese.

When preparing birds for slaughter or egg production, adding some whole grains or a goose mash or pellet feed can spur weight gain. A 3-foot woven wire fence or electric net will ordinarily confine geese to the grazing area, unless they are determined to eat what is on the other side of the fence and decide to fly. You can cut the primary feathers of one wing so that if they try to fly, they are unbalanced. To use weeder geese effectively, place them in the area to be weeded early in the season when grasses and weeds first appear. Two to four geese per acre of planted rows should suffice if they are started early so that they have the chance to keep up with the weeding. Sound familiar? Garden beds, with larger areas for weeds, require more geese, as do infestations of weeds during wet seasons, or grasses and weeds that get ahead of the geese’s consumption needs. Geese will work continuously from dawn to dark, seven days a week, nipping as new growth appears. They can get close to crop plants without damaging the roots. You can use them to weed areas that are too wet for cultivation, too.

If you teach goslings to eat the type of weeds that grow in your fields, by offering them the plants you want them to focus on while they’re still in the brooder, they will be more inclined to hunt down those weeds later. If the weeds aren't in season when you get your goslings, grow some indoors or in a greenhouse. This time spent will be more than worthwhile when the geese get on the fields and aim for the weeds you are trying to control. As with any young animal in training, mistakes will occur, since initially they will eat everything green. This small loss will be worthwhile as the geese figure out what tastes good and what you familiarized them with. Since most adult geese are happy to take young ones under their wing, you can place an adult with the goslings to help them figure things out faster. Goslings can be put outside in a small pen in the garden during the day after they are six weeks old if the weather is in the 70s or above. At this age they still need to be kept dry and out of a brisk wind and may still need to go back into the brooder on chilly nights.

Have geese, even adults, return to a pen and housing at night for protection. Give them a little grain when they return to the evening enclosure to encourage their continued return. Don’t feed them in the morning, as they should go to fields hungry. Goslings are better at weeding than adult geese. They require more food for growth and are busier and more active. Strawberry growers have used weeder geese for many years. They can eliminate almost all hand labor. Usually six to eight goslings per acre are required, depending on the weediness of the field. Geese will eat berries when they start to ripen, so geese should not be in the field then – and they should have been removed from the field within 120 days of harvest, anyhow, due to National Organic Program rules regarding uncomposted manure applications on crops with edible parts that touch the ground. So geese used to weed June-bearing strawberry beds should be in that field after the berries are harvested. Weeder geese are an obvious fit for nursery plantings, orchards and vineyards, because except for small seedlings, most of the crop plants are large and are not palatable to geese.

Producers of sugar beets, corn, potatoes, onions, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, other small fruits, asparagus and mint also have used geese, and geese can help control overgrowth in weedy ponds. Your garden arrangement will affect your ability to use weeder geese. You have to be able to fence them in areas you want weeded or out of plantings, such as greens, that you want to keep for yourself. Other Uses of Geese Remember, too, that the geese provide goose dinners. In fall, after you have used the geese in your fields, birds that you don’t want to feed over winter can be processed. Goose meat tastes good and can be very valuable if marketed well. If you do your own processing, save the down to make a pillow. Fill a tighly woven pillowcase with down, wash it, and voila, you have a pillow. Geese have great vision and can be very good watch or guard animals. You can raise them with your other poultry if they like one another and if the geese don’t eat all the others’ food, or in a pasture adjacent to your chickens or ducks.

They will make lots of noise when a hawk comes overhead or a fox comes nearby. Resources “Brooding and Rearing Ducklings and Goslings,” by Glenn Geiger and Harold Biellier, Dept. of Animal Sciences, Univ. of Missouri Extension, extension.missouri.edu/p/G8920 Feeding Poultry, The Classic Guide to Poultry Nutrition, 2nd ed., by G. F. Heuser, Norton Creek Press, 2003 “Geese: the underestimated species” “Raising Geese,” Leaflet 2225, by Ralph Ernst and W. Stanley Coates, Univ. of California, division of Agricultural Sciences, “Raising Geese,” by Melvin L. Hamre, “Raising Waterfowl,” by Philip J. Clauer and John L. Skinner, Univ. of Wisconsin, Diane Schivera is MOFGA’s organic livestock specialist. You can contact her at 568-4142 or dianes@mofga.org .

Question: American Buff, Pilgrim and Cotton Patch are breeds of which bird?
Answer: Goose