Anyone raise geese for down?

[Omniskies]

I'd mix the feathers in with the down. We've made a few small pillows from butchered geese and they are extremely comfortable.

I don't see why a goose would suddenly not trust you ever again unless it's one that hasn't been handled often to begin with. I've had rabbits in the past that didn't pluck hair for their nestbox when they had babies and we pulled it for them. They weren't happy, but they had no problem with us once put down. A sheep that is flipped to the ground and sheared doesn't hide from you for the rest of its life. And a dog that is taken to the groomer won't cringe and cower.

No, you won't get a ton of down from harvesting a single live goose, but you will still get at least a few fistfuls in total, which adds up. It's for people who don't want to kill the goose to get the down, and would rather put it to use rather than have it shed everywhere in the yard.

I priced the down on Google and found someone offering 3oz bags for $15 a bag. Someone else was selling it for $25.95 per 3oz bag. I honestly don't know how much down can be harvested from a goose each time, but if I could get make $5-8 per goose twice a year then why not? I always have the option of deciding it's too much work or exclude certain geese from the harvest if they object too much.

I doubt anyone will get rich doing this unless they have a flock of a few hundred and have a steady outlet to sell the eggs/goslings. This is where you take to heart the idea that "every little bit adds up." If my geese are making an extra $10-20 a year per goose (with a flock of 50 and a lot of determination I could theoretically make $500-1,000 a year in down). With a trio of geese and ebay you can potentially make $30-50 a year. That's 3-5 bags of feed paid for.

Note: all of these numbers are assuming a goose produces an ounce of down when harvested. Since I don't know how much a goose produces you could get a quarter of an ounce per goose or the full three ounces people seem to sell.

 

[Beekissed]

The story I read about the Mennonites said they had 40 or so geese and it showed them getting quite a harvest from them. As this can be done every six weeks or so in the warm weather, I would say it would add up.

We're not talking about making a killing folks, we're talking about stockpiling down as a byproduct of our geese, sort of like shearing a sheep. There isn't much money in wool these days, especially if you had only one sheep, but would you throw the wool away vs. harvesting it and trying to utilize it in some purposeful manner?

A goose who is used to being handled in this manner would probably take it as a matter of course. Sort of like clipping a horse, shearing a sheep, clipping a dog's nails. They are not people, folks, with whom you must foster an interdependent relationship. They are animals and should be treated according to their purpose on Earth. Handle them in a calm and gentle manner, feed, water and care for them, collect their byproduct, or butcher them for food, even enjoy their companionship on some levels...but they shouldn't be attributed with human emotions and feelings.

Omniskies, here is a link you might like to see. I want to go with Dorpers, as they are a meat breed and resemble the Boer goats when their hair sheds.

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/hairsheep.html

If you click on the individual breed names you can see pics!

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
Well go ahead and do it, I'm just saying that waterfowl, like most living things, tend to have opinions about humans who hurt them. A dog that is taken to a groomer that hurts them wll certainly remember that groomer and react accordingly. I dunno though, none of my dogs go to the groomer to get fur pulled out.

I honestly don't know how much down can be harvested from a goose each time, but if I could get make $5-8 per goose twice a year then why not? I always have the option of deciding it's too much work or exclude certain geese from the harvest if they object too much.

I personally, wouldn't dream of plucking my geese live for $16 a year per goose. I could sell 3 hatching eggs a year per goose and make more money than that.

Just my opinion.

 

[Omniskies]

I think that's where we're disagreeing, DuckyBoys - I honestly don't think it is hurting them. As I've said, if it does hurt you stop. Simple as that. If you accidentally step on your goose's foot or trip over him he doesn't hate you forever. And if you pin your goose down and squirt worming medicine in his mouth, or make him take a pill to get well, he doesn't resent you for all eternity. You are plucking feathers that are already falling out. I've picked up ducks and chickens that are moulting and when their wings flap they send feathers _everywhere_. I severely doubt those feathers coming loose causes them pain anymore than us brushing our hair (without tangles

hurts us.

If you take your dog to the groomer and they brush his hair out then it's going to be practically the same thing.

Since I can't find an example of goose plucking, I'm using rabbit plucking as an example:

This is an animal who looks perfectly relaxed and at ease with the process. She is obviously fine with what is going on and the fur is coming out extremely easily. We used to have Jersey Woolies and at times it's hard to believe that their fur is attached to their skin at all.

To emphasize if this hurts the goose you simply do not do it.

Not a single person here is advocating doing something that would hurt a goose. What we are doing is looking for a new resource our geese can provide besides eggs, meat, weeding, companionship and guarding the yard.

Besides that, if I try this and it does look like it is causing pain or discomfort I will make a post on here explaining the process at length. If it succeeds I'll do the same. With how much this community shares with one another I have no doubt that others will do the same thing.

Lastly, sure, $16 isn't a lot of money. But that's $32 for three eggs and an ounce of down rather than just $16. It all adds up and makes our oftentimes expensive lifestyle a little more tolerable.

In another year that $16 will buy me a gallon of gas I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford

 

[DuckyBoys]

Seems like a lot of justification going on, that's all. I can repsect the fact that you want to get as much out of your animals as possible. I'm actually fine with that, but the whole "They don't feel it stuff". That's a cop out.

 

[Omniskies]

There's a lot of justification because no one wants to be told that they're hurting their animals. Everyone gets at least a little defensive when they come across someone complaining about how such-and-such is inhumane or painful.

I'm not saying they don't feel anything. I'm saying it doesn't hurt them. You have geese, so you know as well as I do that if something happens to them that they don't like they _will_ let you know. Saying it doesn't hurt isn't a cop out. It's going to be very obvious whether or not it hurts.

My yard is beginning to look like it's snowing. When I get the time I'll sit down with a few of my geese and see what happens. Actually having a few people on here harvest the down is the easiest way to answer the nagging question of whether or not this hurts.

I'll try to get pictures. I also have a mail weight scale that measures ounces so I'll know how much can be taken from a single adult.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:

-Kim

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Let us know how that goes Omni, I'd be very interested. There is little to no good informative sites about hand-harvested plucking and I too tried to find a video but failed.

DuckBoys, nobody(!) here is saying you should hurt your geese for any amount of money. We know $16 a year isn't much and it may not even be worth the effort. I've heard that geese are extremely intelligent animals, they never forget. A friend of mine ate their favorite's goose's goslings for Christmas one year and the gosling's mother never forgot that they took the gosling and it didn't come back. The goose went from being a real pet to being more standoffish.

Have you ever held a chick that was beginning to feather out? I remember holding many chicks this season and when their feathers come in for the first time, the baby "fluff" sticks to the end of the new feathers. I would often sit around and pull the baby fluff off of their new feathers. It didn't bother any of them one bit, a couple of them decided to help and began to preen and pull it off themselves. I imagine if you timed your down harvesting with the goose's molt, it would be the exact same thing, you are only loosening feathers that a already coming out.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As for justifications, we each just try to explain how we've arrived at our own opinion. Anytime someone points a finger and accuses something as being cruel, there is almost always going to be a disagreement. Hah! I could open a thread about "pinioning" and would get an earful from every point of view on pinioning.

Omni, make sure to try and get some pictures. Let us know how it goes, I've very curious.

-Kim

 

[Beekissed]

Well go ahead and do it, I'm just saying that waterfowl, like most living things, tend to have opinions about humans who hurt them. A dog that is taken to a groomer that hurts them wll certainly remember that groomer and react accordingly. I dunno though, none of my dogs go to the groomer to get fur pulled out.

Animals don't have opinions. Humans have opinions, which you are demonstrating very well right now. That is your perogative as this is America and an open forum.

Yes, your dog does get his hair "pulled out" at the groomers. When a dog is combed or brushed, hair comes out. This hair was not lying on the surface, nor sandwiched between other hairs just waiting to fall...it is naturally shed when it is "pulled" upon by a comb or brush, just like ours. Geese have an undercoat that sheds easily, just like dogs, cats, rabbits...particularly on their abdomen. This hair-like growth is not true feathers and sloughs off during moulting, nesting, and any old time the bird is grooming itself.

For the last time, this is not a debate about the cruelty of the process, the folks discussing doing it do not feel it is cruel, at this point, and won't be swayed by people who believe their animals are humans. We will form our own opinions about the process when we do it. We are capable of judging for ourselves, at that point, if it is a practice we wish to continue. Thank you for your concern but noone here is "justifying" anything at this point, we are exploring the possibilities and would like to do so without all the sentimental sidelines from someone who has never tried it and cannot venture an informed opinion of the process. Thank you for posting, but we aren't buying.

(Thought I had made that clear in a previous post, but I guess not...

)​

 

[waterfowlrescue]

You also need to consider the fact that the birds will not be able to regulate theit body temps when the feathers are removed. So you need to provide them a heated shed or barn to stay in until their skin is covered.