Geese Raising

Geese Raising

Many rural families have found that it is worthwhile to include a few geese amongfarm animals since they require little attention, virtually no housing and find their ownBesides, roast goose is a delicious and different Christmas or Thanksgiving treat.

Breeds: The Toulouse goose has a broad, deep body, is a fair layer ave.about 25 to 40 or more eggs a year.rapidly, and is a good market bird. However, its dark pinfeathers make it less attractivethe market than the Emden. Emdens grow well, are fairly good layers, producing 35 to 40 or more eggs a year, and are better than Toulouse geese.

Chinese geese come in white andand are better layers, averaging 40 to 6.5more eggs. They are also good wChinese geese are smaller than either Toor Emden and make an ideal bird foruse. While the Toulouse or Emden cornweighs 12 to 20 pounds, Chinese geese aseight to 12 pounds. Crosses with the Eand Toulouse are also available.

Other varieties of geese include Pit,which have the advantage of being naturally sexed - the adult gander is white and theis gray; African geese, attractive gray birds with a brown shade; Canadian geeseAmerican wild goose; and Buff, Egyptian and Sebastapol.

Housing: Except in extremely cold weather, mature geese need no shelter andhardly ever use a house. Open sheltersshades are provided on range to give prtion from the sun. In the North, a barncan be left open for the geese so they caninside in cold weather.

Starting with Geese: The best way to start is to buy day-old goslings from a hatchery. Goose eggs do not incubate as well as hen's eggs so it is inadvisable to begin with fertile eggs.

Don't order goslings until the weather isif the outside temperatures are low, thegs must be kept warm. Start them insidea brooder of 90°F. (32.22°C.) and grad-reduce the heat over a period of ten daysee weeks, depending on outside temperature.

Goslings can be fed wetted regular chickwhole-grain bread soaked in milk or water, or cooked oatmeal covered with water. Supply tender, chopped greens at all meals.the goslings three to four times a daythey can clean up in 15 minutes. After areduce the grain supplement to only two- a day and offer more greens. At three weeks of age, cut the geese down to oneg of grain per day and provide greensa other feedings.

Water and fine grit should be availablefl times. Provide water in a chick feedertar with pebbles in the trough so that thecannot get their whole bodies into the

At four weeks of age the goslings can beoutside and will support themselves wellrange. Provide a shelter in case of rain andenclosed on the sides and top withen wire. After a few days they can beed several hours of freedom a day, andback to their coop at night by a lateoon feeding of grain. Be sure that litter in the coop is clean and dry. At six weeks they sleep outside at night except during lengthy days of chilling rain, and by eight weekscan take care of themselves.

Feeding: After goslings are six weeks old they can be raised on pasture alone, butenough growing mash may be provided tokeep them steadily growing. Pasture grasses,clover and alfalfa make fine pasture, and anacre of good pasture can support 15 to 25 geese. Poor pasture can be supplemented bycut fresh greens.

Geese may be used to weed strawberrybeds until the plants are nearly ripe. Feed apound of grain per five geese daily, and changelocation of this feeding and their waterersevery few days so the geese range over the en-tire patch. After the strawberries are picked,geese can be turned back into the patch tohandle late summer and fall weeding. In thegarden, however, geese will supplement theirpasture by feeding on your ripening vegetables,even onions. If you have a roaming flock ofgeese, keep them out of your garden with aheavy wire fence.

Geese need a constant supply of fresh,clean water. A waterer such as a hog fountainis excellent since geese cannot get into thewater container. Like all poultry, they need aconstant source of oyster shell or other in-soluble grit.

Geese should be fattened before slaughter-ing. This is best done in cool weather. Geeseare ready to fatten when fully feathered orwhen the long wing feathers reach the tail when folded. They are usually five to six months oldand weigh from 11 to 15 pounds, depending onbreed.

Feed birds a crumbly mash three timesdaily, or twice daily with a feeding of wholegrain. They should be allowed little exerciseand confined or permitted limited range. Un-limited water should be provided, but thegeese should not be able to fit into their waterdispensers. If confined, plenty of clean, drybedding should be available.

Geese must be starved for 12 hours beforeslaughtering, but should have water available.

Breeding geese kept over winter shouldhave grain, laying mash and roughage. Oatsmixed with corn, wheat or barley are a goodfeed. Geese can be fed whole corn, and shouldbe given clover or alfalfa hay as roughage.

Breeding: Geese mate permanently inpairs. Breeders should be selected frommedium-sized, vigorous and well-developedbirds that grow rapidly and have compact,meaty bodies. A gander may be mated withup to five geese, but pair and trio matings aremost common. Mature ganders have a longerneck and head than females and have a higherpitched voice; the female is smaller, less coarseand has a deeper cry.

Most breeds lay in the early spring, theChinese somewhat earlier. Laying mash is fedonce a day in December or January to en-courage egg production. Farmers with just afew geese can use regular hen laying mashes.Broodiness in geese can be checked by confin-ing the broody goose in sight of but away fromthe gander. Geese will continue to lay untilmid-June if not allowed to set, so collect theeggs regularly to encourage egg production.Geese kept outside can use nesting boxes madeof old packing crates inverted on the groundand with a hole cut in one end. Fill the boxeswith clean straw.

Eggs for hatching should be collectedtwice daily until March 1. Geese eggs do nothatch as well as hen's eggs in an incubator, soyou may want to use a hen or a Muscovy duckto set the eggs. Hens must be watched, how-ever, since the goose eggs hatch a week laterthan hen's eggs. Eggs should be turned oncea day, and should be sprinkled with lukewarmwater daily during the last two weeks of hatching.

Newly hatched goslings should beto the geese to mother, if possible, and be to the geese to mother, if possible, and confined indoors until they are twcold. Even at that age, goslings should -allowed to get wet-even by walking through wet grass. Goslings are commonly notto swim until they have begun to feather.

Slaughtering: Kill geese the same way other poultry is killed. Goose down is a valuable by-product ofraising and if down is desired, the bird should be dry-picked. Since geese have tend,be careful not to bruise the bird if you plan to market it. Semiscalding makes picking easier. Dip the goose into almost-boiling water for two to 21/2 minutes until feathers pull easily. If desired, detergent may be added to the water. After picking, geese should be cooled in water or in the refrigerator, and then packed for shipping or storage, or bagged and frozen.

Feathers can be saved from dry-7geese. Flesh should be cleaned from f eaif any remains after picking and the feplaced in a burlap or cheesecloth bag. V1/4with soap and warm water and allow to a.,the shade or in a well-ventilated room.

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