How should I do my breeding? Flocks, trios, pairs?

I have allready asked CelticOaks and they said they breed in trios to have better control of genetics but I wanted to ask others to get others opinios as well (thanks Celtic). I am going to be breeding sebastopols and dewlap toulouse next year and I wanted to know if I should have a flock for breeding or a smaller number together for breeding? As of right now I have 7 sebbies (3 males 4 females) and I might add more, and for the dewlaps I only have one gander I will proably only have a pair possibly a trio for next year.

So how should I go about breeding thoes breeds for next year?

I breed my chickens in trios.

I plan on setting mine into pairs (I only have four) . I am going to do a matriarical system(2 groups of females, their female offspring always stay in same pen with mothers line, male offspring get moved to opposite pen with other female group) For the first few years I was going to keep only geese from each hatch to get my female numbers up then in 3rd or 4th year keep a male from each pen and to do the switch.

Others may have other things to say about it but ...

Honestly, I'd probably plan on pairs. I've had trios work, but it wasn't intentional on my part. I've also had it be a disaster (also not intentional).

And I'd also separate them EARLY into pairs, and separate them FAR. When they are up against each other, they are far too distracting. Especially if the goose you put in one pair likes the gander of the other pair better. The ganders will spend all their time trying to fight instead of taking care of their girls.

Everything is MUCH more peaceful and effective, for me, when I get a pair off by themselves and give them a place they want to nest. I keep failing to do that with the ENTIRE flock early enough, and I always regret it.

Also, when I have a good group of birds and no real plan, and they are unrelated, I let them do the choosing sometimes. If you have a place to remove pairs to when it becomes apparent who likes who, that works well.

I've heard of people raising large numbers of geese just by running them all together, but even with a larger flock that did NOT work for me.

I do have one group set up in front as a trio that is really too young to breed (eggs are infertile) but they are behaving quite well as a family (both girls setting tight on a shared nest, taking turns getting off, and the gander guarding them). I've given them eggs from other pairs to hatch out and I'll see what happens. And as I said, I've had it work before. But generally trios don't work well for me (unless maybe you give the geese separate and secure nesting areas - mine always choose to be close, and it's usually not a good outcome).

Good luck with them.

Oh, it CAN depend on your gander as well. The younger they are, the more willing they are to "spread themselves around" though they may do so ineffectively. In that case, I've had higher fertility by letting a small group live together (I have two cooperative ganders). Of course, then you don't know who the father is. But the older they get, the more exclusive they tend to be, and they may decide to only breed their favorite goose. You never know what they will decide.

Also, if you are planning to incubate the eggs, and not have the goose do it, you will probably not have the same kinds of problems I've faced. But I do think geese make the best incubators.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

It really depends on your set up. I myself prefer trios. I usually keep two trios of each breed in the same pen. The dominant gander has two girls to distract him from fighing with the other and the other has his own two hens. Everybodies happy then. I also tend to think that if i should suddenlty have a predator or something happen and end up losing a bird or two i should have a back up to keep the breeding program going. I've noticed that if kept in pairs in the same pen one gander inevitably ends up beating the other and takes both hens for himself while the other is stuck with nothing. Trios just work better for me. You'll have to experiment a bit and see what you like better.

Well I think I might do the trio thing but have 3 trios in one area how does that sound? so in a way it would be flock breeding, but how big of a breeding/outside pen would I need for 3 trios of sebastopol geese, and one for at least 2 trios dewlap toulouse geese, I would also need Ideas for coops, I would not be locking them up at night so just for them to get out of the elements, hang the feeder, and nest boxes to lay thier eggs in.

thanks every one for the ideas!

Hopefully that will work for you. Maybe my geese are harder to get along with than some folks. I do have one pair of ganders that work together, they have a clear hierarchy and the #2 backs the #1 up, and everything is fine. With THAT pair of ganders and their ladies. I tried twice to add a third gander and it didn't work. (by the way, both of the ganders I tried to add were raised in the flock, one as a gosling with the first two ganders, and one as a gosling raised after they were adults raised within the flock)

Geese are real individuals, and I think it's really going to depend on YOUR geese. I would suggest as much room as you can give them, and be ready to make changes if needed. Flexibility is probably your best tool here.

I've had 3 trios on about 1/4 acre yard. I do think it was more than big enough. They just didn't get along in that dynamic. If it would work, I think I could have done it in an area half that size.

Geese don't need much "out of the elements" and probably won't go inside anywhere unless you make them. I've had them stand out in the snow, pouring rain, icy wind, and so on. They tend to turn their backs to bad weather and "tuck in" if needed. You can give them a 2 or 3 sided shelter with a roof overhead, and they may use it. The more open it is and the higher the roof (they seem to like 5' or more) the more likely they will use it.

If you want open type nest boxes, I've seen 55 gallon drums work. You can bury it partially to provide an even dirt floor, and you can attach a 2x4 across the front to provide a lip to keep the eggs in if you like. If given their choice, geese will usually pick their own spot, NOT where you intended. I have sometimes had them choose the inside of a coop (I have two girls setting tight in a duck coop they confiscated for that reason - they seem to like it because it's only a 2 x 4 frame with welded wire on the sides and a tin roof, so it's essentially open on all sides. I've also had them REALLY prefer woodpiles or brushpiles much of the time. Then again, sometimes they will simply scratch out a hole on the ground. Maybe my geese are weird.

Good luck with them, I hope it works out well for you. I understand Sebastopols are calmer natured, so maybe it will work better for you than it would for me. I hope you are planning to raise your ganders together, I think that would go a long way to helping them tolerate each other during breeding season.

poultry as you know we run pairs and trios. Everyone gets locked up at night, or we are just asking for predator issues. The Sebastopols expecially with being flightless and they dont shed water like smooth feathered geese.

What you described is a flock/pasture breeding set up, not a trio set up. Even more so with the Sebbies. Breeds like buff american, pilgrim dont have all the genetic factors your Sebbies do to concider when setting up breeders. If you run 3 trios in one area, you will never know what the genetics are behind the goslings, or what they are possibly split to color wise. It will also make it impossible to breed towards any goal. IE... rounder heads, more curl, ect. All things to think about since you have colors in the Sebbies and if you are wanting to breed, there should be some sort of goal behind that want, not just to produce any goslings you can to sell.

I am also building a small breeding flock and am curious how to set up my property, and find this to be a very interesting thread. Anyone have pics of their set-ups?

CelticOaksFarm said:

poultry as you know we run pairs and trios. Everyone gets locked up at night, or we are just asking for predator issues. The Sebastopols expecially with being flightless and they dont shed water like smooth feathered geese.

What you described is a flock/pasture breeding set up, not a trio set up. Even more so with the Sebbies. Breeds like buff american, pilgrim dont have all the genetic factors your Sebbies do to concider when setting up breeders. If you run 3 trios in one area, you will never know what the genetics are behind the goslings, or what they are possibly split to color wise. It will also make it impossible to breed towards any goal. IE... rounder heads, more curl, ect. All things to think about since you have colors in the Sebbies and if you are wanting to breed, there should be some sort of goal behind that want, not just to produce any goslings you can to sell.

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Thats a very good point! Thanks Celtic. The problem I have is I am still in high school not old enough to have a job so money is a huge issue so I cant set up a bunch of different breeding pens, and I dont completly under stand genetics (actualy dont know much at all about sebbie genetics) So I was going to do the best set up that I can afford. So please tell me anything possible about color genetics, are thier books/websites I can read to learn about sebbie/toulouse genetics? Could you tell me from pictures what birds should be paired and and put together to produce better looking birds? any advice would be awesome!!!!!

Could you possibly post pictures of your setups? coops, runs etc?

thanks
zach