A Goose Breed with Low egg production ??

[MikeJanet]

HI everyone - hoping all you geese lovers can help provide me some valuable insite before I enter into goose owenership again.

I'd really like a light to med weight breed who aren't over acheivers in the egg/broodiness department. I'm hoping for no more than a flock of 4,and egg production I can keep in check - no babies just a nice little flock to grace our place......

Was looking at brown chinese but from what I'm reading I might have to fight them in order to keep their eggs picked up and it might get ugly -not to mention they lay a lot of eggs!

I'm starting to look at the sebastopol...

I love how personable geese are and miss my standard toulouse....All advise is welcome....

 

[Omniskies]

Sebastopols are a good choice. As a general rule, the larger the goose the fewer eggs you'll get (sans the Toulouse and Embden which are bred for production).

Instead of focusing on a low egg production, you could always take measures to make sure you won't be getting a lot of eggs to begin with, such as giving them regular feed instead of egg pellets, or find people who are willing to take the extra eggs if you don't want them yourselves. They're also extremely good to boil and feed to chickens. We always keep hard boiled eggs on hand to feed to newborn chicks, ducklings, and goslings for a boost of energy.

The average goose will lay around 30-50 eggs in a season. That's it. You can freeze goose eggs like chicken eggs and store them for up to six months, which will give you eggs to eat up until November - at which point you can make some fun stuff for Thanksgiving (goose or duck eggs in any sort of baked goods is incredibly tasty). You'll be goose-egg poor for three months, at which point the eggs will be trickling in again at an average of 4-5 eggs a week per goose.

With two pairs of geese you'll be looking at a _maximum_ of 100 eggs - combined - for the whole year (more likely you'll get 40-50ish total). If you let the goose sit on a clutch of eggs and raise the young you'll be lucky if you get any to eat at all.

Otherwise, try looking into these breeds:

Sebastopols have a relatively low production - not very low, just kinda low.

Cotton Patch geese. I highly recommend selling any goslings you get out of them. Cotton Patch are typically allowed to raise their own offspring to retain the mothering instincts. That combined with very, very few people raising them anymore has led to there only being a few left. The Cotton Patch is an autosexing goose with a sleek build (they don't have the fatty lobes). I used to have the email to a breeder who had Cotton Patch.

 

[nettie]

i've heard that sebastpols only lay about 15 a year.

 

[DuckLady]

Goose eggs make great omelets. You only need one.

 

[MikeJanet]

Thanks everyone - especially Omniskies - for your thoughts.

Not sure which breed I'll pursue but this time around I'll be a little better prepared. I'll also have to remember to watch Teri's rescue site to see what might pop of there.

 

[loftkeeper10]

If not wanting to raise any just get males they are not as easy a prey . they stay off the banks of the water edge and are not easily caught and ate

 

[DuckLady]

Besides the married couple you emailed me about, Janet, I have an ad here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=125229

 

[CatherineE]

Hi there! I'm new to the forum, but I'd sure like to second the recommendation for Cotton Patch Geese! We live in Texas, and found thebreeder probably referred to earlier. His name is Mr. Tom Walker, and he can be reached at <[email protected]>. He lives near Bastrop, in central Texas. He is an elderly gentleman who remembers these very old style geese from his childhood, when they saved him hours and hours of work weeding his Daddy's cotton patch.

Anyway, he looked around a few years back and realized that these once very common geese were no longer to be seen. So, he's worked REALLY hard to find and purchase geese from the few remaining and widely dispersed flocks to resurrect the breed. He's got the largest flock of Cotton Patch Geese anywhere, and will happily mail birds to you wherever you are, as he is VERY interested in helping to create lots of breeding flocks in order to preserve these wonderful birds. These geese look fairly similar to Pilgrim Geese, but are apparently of MUCH older lineage. They, too, are sex linked with white males and grey females (or more rarely, saddle back), but the girls are a much softer grey color than Pilgrims, and both sexes have pink bills and feet, as opposed to bright orange. We've got a small flock of 3 pairs of birds and absolutely adore them! They are gentle, quiet and intelligent. Our flock quickly learned our routine and they now go into their pen at dusk every night, completely on their own. Also, per your own interests, they only lay between 15 and 30 eggs per season. Personally, we wish they laid more as my husband ADORES fried goose egg!

However, Mr. Walker breeds for fewer eggs, as big egg production was never a part of this breed, he says. The eggs are about the size of 3 or 4 hen's eggs, and have an absolutely delicious buttery rich taste! Hope this helps. Blessings. C.