How Old Would You Consider Eating a Gander?

[judyc]

I have six geese. Three are ganders and three are females. However, I have a trio and a pair. The low ranking gander is only tolerated at a distance. If he is penned with the flock, they will pull his feathers and leave him bleeding. I'm considering culling him, but wondered if three years old would make him too tough.

 

[Jenbirdee]

anything gets soft in a slow cooker (crock pot) sorry for your gander though thats sad
I hear it really hard work to process geese the feathers are tough to pull

 

[AGeese]

Meat birds are usually processed at maturity, still 3 years isn't that old for a goose (but I've never processed one.) so can't really say. @Isadora

 

[Goose Smith]

I do not think three years old is that old. I lost a 2 1/2 year old gander to getting stuck in poultry netting and got to him right after he died. It was in the teens temperature-wise and I went ahead and processed him…He ate as good as geese I harvested at 20-24 weeks.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

i hunt geese, not sure how old they get in the wild but some can be really tough.

edit: did a quick google search seems snow geese get up to 20 years in the wild and Canada geese up to 24. am sure a 3 year old non-migratory bird should be fine.