Pomeranian Goose Breed Thread

Welcome to the few, the proud, the owners of Pomeranian geese.

This thread was made so that we would have a place to post information, breeder links, and photos. It is my hope that we can help one another improve and preserve the breed we all have come to love.

Welcome to the Gaggle!

POMERANIAN BREEDERS LIST - please post your information below and I will copy it to this post.

1MrsMagoo: Buff Saddleback hatching eggs shipped, goslings locally, NPIP, SE Louisiana

Oregon Blues: Grey Saddleback hatching eggs shipped, goslings locally, NPIP, Central Oregon

Welcome Bhonkers!

In the United States, we have two colors accepted by the A.P.A. the Buff Saddleback and the Grey Saddleback. Of the two colors variants, the Gray is a tad bit easier to find, although good quality birds of either color are difficult to come by (especially now that Holderread's has dispersed their flock of greys).

Their are also a couple of old style German heritage flocks in the U.S. that do not meet the A.P.A. standard. These birds come in white, grey, buff, and saddleback coloration/patterns. They tend to have much pinker bill, legs, and feet. To the best of my knowledge, both primary flocks are now held by private individuals who do not sell eggs or goslings.

According to the American Livestock Breed Conservancy, the Saddleback Pomeranian is critically endangered in the U.S.

Link to their page:http://albc-usa.org/cpl/waterfowl/pomeranian.html

This breed of goose was considered one of the best table birds in colonial times and used to produce smoked goose breast.

According to the International Waterfowl Breeders Association's Webpage, here are the standards for the breed:

Standard Weights

Old Gander.......17 lbs.    Young Gander....15 lbs

Old Goose.........15 lbs.    Young Goose......13 lbs.

BILL: Medium in length, nearly straight, stout.

EYES: Large and rather prominent.

HEAD: Fairly broad, somewhat refined, crown somewhat flat.

NECK: Medium in length, moderately stout; carried upright.

BACK: Slightly convex; approximately 60% more length than breadth.

TAIL: Somewhat short, closely-folded, carried nearly level.

WINGS: Rather long with tips crossing over tail coverts. Carried high, neatly and smoothly folded.

BODY: Moderately long, plump, deep and meaty; keel not permissible. Paunch moderately deep, broad, single-lobed (a dual lobed paunch is a serious defect.)

BREAST: Plump, broad.

LEGS AND FEET: Lower Thighs- medium length, plump, nearly concealed by ample thigh coverts. Shanks- moderately long, rather refined but sturdy.  Feet- toes, straight and well-webbed.

What isn't mentioned above is that the eyes are blue, feet and portion of the legs pink to reddish orange, and a pinkish-red to flesh colored bill. Also, the colored "saddle" should appear like a heart type shape when viewed from above.

Here are my original birds, who were purchased from a private person in Mississippi last summer: They are an unrelated mated pair I named John and Jean after my parents.

Here are some photos are their offspring and some birds I purchased from Kawonu directly and via Celtic.

Tucker and Caboosh: My best marked juvenile goose and gander.

Mom, dad,and the four surviving spring babies...lol.

Juveniles from Kawonu's stock.

And finally, the last two to hatch from my pair's eggs this spring...on Mother's Day. Shaazam and Bazinga.

I have a total of 15 of them, all Buff, right now: My two originals, 6 of their offspring, and 7 from Kawonu's stock.

I have pre-ordered 12 eggs from another source in Iowa for the upcoming season and am going to attempt to buy some from Butch Gunderson, who is or was V.P. of the A.P.A: He raises both the grey and buff birds.

PlantCity: I will not be re-homing anyone for at least a year, maybe two. I have a large enough property to keep all the geese in separate pastures.

Although it isn't recommended, I am going to try breeding the two with excess buff to two that are better marked, but don't have as good of coloration on their bills or legs. After I hatch and raise enough of their offspring, and see what I end up with, I will decide if they stay in the pet flock or go to new homes.

I get a lot of local inquiries looking for "pet geese" and we have a local chicken/poultry swap at one of the feed stores every Sunday (except July and August).

Out of all the ones I hatched this season, 13 total goslings, I got one bird from Kawonu's eggs that has a PURE pink bill and legs. He has decent markings, so I am going to pen him up with Caboosh, my best marked goose. I am really excited about this pairing. My husband made me a bargain: Sell my dairy cows and he would build me a big breeding barn for my best flock and not put a limit on the number of geese I am allowed to have, so long as I do sell some of the culls.

WarrenHound: First, welcome to the world of Pomeranian geese!

First, if I were a betting woman, I would say their is a strong likely-hood that you have a Lucy on your hands. The bill looks too small to be a gander, at least comparing it to my birds. However, I can't be sure from the pictures without seeing a shot of the top and direct front of the bill. If it doesn't start raining, I will go outside and try to get close-up shots of the bills of both sexes to post.

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Also, your bird has a case of Twisted Wing Tip, which is usually caused by nutrition, or too high of protein in the goslings diet for too long. I would recommend that you trim the primary feathers on that wing, which will both improve the look of the bird and make it more comfortable. From my limited experience, the twisted wing tip is not hereditary and therefore not passed to offspring. Most breeders, however, may disagree and will not keep a bird with this deformity in their breeding pens.

Do the geese have access to pasture? Being able to graze helps them tremendously from a very young age.

Since you have a grey, which luckily is a bit easier to come by, are you wanting to get eggs from greys, or buffs as well? Their are a few members on here that have each, and once I get some time (will be at least two weeks), I will begin posting contact information for the breeders I have run across.

Thanks for joining the fray!

Also....

If anyone sells eggs, goslings, started birds, or adults; please post what you sell. I will try to monitor the thread and edit the first post to include everyone's information.

Make sure to include if you are NPIP, color of your birds, and your state of residence. At least one photo of your parent stock is also recommended (I will just reference the post number to direct everyone to your photos.)

I will start:

I sell Buff Saddleback hatching eggs only, NPIP, SE Louisiana

I will try and post a better photo as my two original birds were in molt when this one was taken. Their oldest four spring goslings are with them in this photo taken June 2012.