Pilgrim geese - male or female???

Date sort Score sort
Yes, the Pilgrim males have blue eyes but not like sky blue. Its more of a darker blue with an edge of grey on mine. The females have brown with flexes of green. Breed standards list it as Bluish grey in the gander and hazel brown in the goose. That is about what I am seeing on mine.

I really love the colors of yours. They are really pretty. I am not sure if they are pure Pilgrim or not though. They do look similar but the white belt is odd. I really wonder if they have something like the Shetland in their background. The close ups of the one brown and the white one though sure do look like Pilgrims. Only the belted are throwing me.
 
Camotracey said:
Sure.

I took a few short video's, but in hindsight, they are probably not good enough quality to help with identifying things, but I figure why not share them.

From the beginning I have always talked to them, saying "Goose Goose Goose", I'm sure anyone seeing me do this would think I am a little strange, but they talk back, so it can't be that strange can it
big_smile.png
. Sometimes they get right into it, but in this case they were a bit put off by the phone I think.

0.jpg


In this next one, one of them decides to follow me, and the rest eventually join in. They are more independent now, they used to always follow me around all the time, but now it depends on how into grazing they are.

0.jpg


Here are a few photos (hopefully a bit clearer). The white one has blue eyes, as do two of the other ones with the more white. The other three have brown eyes.

There are two with similar colouring like this one, and they both have blue eyes





This is the white one, and he also has blue eyes (the photo does not show the blue as much, but they are perhaps a dark turquoise blue)




This is one of the ones with brown eyes




Here is a picture from the front. The white one and the two with the white on the neck are the three with the blue eyes




It would be interesting to find out if they are as they were described (Pilgrims), but the reality is they are really nice geese no mater what breed they are. The main reason for asking is to find out if they will live happily together in the future, and to perhaps help others in the future identify pilgrims (as I have photo's listed going back to early on). So what I really want to know is if it is possible to tell based on the pictures what sex they all are, and if so are they a good mix, or am I likely to have fighting in the future.

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Another possibility is that they might be Cotton Patch geese. I am not sure where you are from. Cotton Patch geese are another breed available in the USA that are color sex-linked. They look much like Pilgrims but also come in a pied form. Pied gives a more random coloration and could be expressed exactly as your picture shows as I understand. Feathersite has a page on them. Try looking up some pictures and see what you think.

Pied can be from random breeding's and is not necessarily sex-linked but if the white is male and the colored are female then its probably a sex-linked breed. Sex-linked breeds include Pilgrim, Cotton Patch, Shetland and West of England. Pure Pilgrims are the only ones that would "never" have the white on the chest of females. The other breeds I listed have either a consistent saddleback pattern or a pied or a pied color form. Not all of these breeds are available in any given area and I am not familiar enough with them to be able to say much about them. I read somewhere that sometimes Cotton Patch will be sold under the name of Pilgrims because the Pilgrims are more widely known.
 
Tivona,

Thank you for the information (sorry I have been busy the past few months and forgot to check in).


Well some bad news unfortunately. One of our girls has been struggling a bit with one leg (fluid in the knee), we thought she may have just tripped (they get a bit silly when having a bath and tend to run around madly in and out of the water). She appeared to be getting better, but yesterday stopped using the leg, so we took her to the vet (first time our vet has had someone bring a goose in
smile.png
, I guess most people would just take the final step, but that's not our mindset).

He looked at it's joint and thinks there is major issues, something that would require specialist surgery to correct, but he did admit he couldn't be sure without x-rays. Realistically we are just not in a financial position to even consider that path, we are going to try putting her in an isolation pen to rest, as the other 5 just keep walking away and leaving her trying to follow them (which is not helping). Hopefully this helps as we also realise that with a bird this size, hopping on one leg is not a long term option.

Any and all advice welcome.

Cheers,

Cameron
 
Camotracey said:
Tivona,

Thank you for the information (sorry I have been busy the past few months and forgot to check in).


Well some bad news unfortunately. One of our girls has been struggling a bit with one leg (fluid in the knee), we thought she may have just tripped (they get a bit silly when having a bath and tend to run around madly in and out of the water). She appeared to be getting better, but yesterday stopped using the leg, so we took her to the vet (first time our vet has had someone bring a goose in
smile.png
, I guess most people would just take the final step, but that's not our mindset).

He looked at it's joint and thinks there is major issues, something that would require specialist surgery to correct, but he did admit he couldn't be sure without x-rays. Realistically we are just not in a financial position to even consider that path, we are going to try putting her in an isolation pen to rest, as the other 5 just keep walking away and leaving her trying to follow them (which is not helping). Hopefully this helps as we also realise that with a bird this size, hopping on one leg is not a long term option.

Any and all advice welcome.

Cheers,

Cameron
Click to expand...
Oh my, poor lil lady. I had a goose hen with a bad limp, I confined her to an airline dog crate. No wounds, just an obvious muscle injury. she would step, step and sit. Let her out a couple times a day, but confined to a very small area in the barn. She recovered, there is no way she would have staying in the flock. They hate to be alone and it was so hard for her. I had to keep her still and that was the only way to do it. She is fine now but I see she still has an issue, I can pick her out from the other 2 embden hens. I kept her on shavings and cleaned the crate daily, geese sure do poo a lot, lol!
 

Similar threads

H
Will My Geese Sit their Eggs or Not?
Replies
3
Views
622
JRies
JRies
Roxadee
    • Like
In Trouble
Replies
6
Views
398
Goosebaby
Goosebaby
L
    • Like
    • Love
Normal Growth Rates for Pilgrim Geese
Replies
3
Views
920
Jenbirdee
Jenbirdee
T
    • Like
Goose shaking his head then rubbing it on his body
Replies
7
Views
1K
TheaVS
T
MMelton67
    • Like
1 Gander trying to kill the other gander?
2 3 4
Replies
34
Views
2K
AGeese
AGeese

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom