OregonBlues has an older post on here about preparing goose. They raise Pomeranians, which is the breed that was traditionally raised for meat in the past and gave some good cooking tips. However, I am sure that any goose can be processed for food. Most people focus on the larger breeds like the Embden, but if you have a small family, a large goose breed may not be right for you.
I do remember reading that with geese, the processing is all about timing due to the feathers. Their are certain times they are easier to pluck than others which is important due to the down. Quite a few people collect the down, which can be cleaned, dried and used or sold.
We have been mulling the idea of meat geese over as well. I have a production Toulouse gander and could let him cross with the pet quality Pom females that I will not use as breeders. I imagine this would give us a nice, solid bird that would be mid-sized between the two breeds (the Poms are shorter, but wider). However, my husband, who does all the processing, doesn't think he could kill a goose: He says they have intelligent eyes. I think it would take one of the ganders turning aggressive for him to really want to process one of them, but time will tell.
He wants to process one of our ducks, since we have so many extra drakes. If we like it, I have a Pekin and some Silver Appleyard hens that I can breed with our Appleyard drake for meat. I would just want to let a brood hatch them, since I would be less attached to them than if I incubated them and brooded them. I think I would need that level of detachment from the waterfowl to comfortably eat. No cuddling the fluffy babies and no names for anything I intend to eat.
I am also raising turkeys and thus far, one of the two breeds I got has proven very resilient: Much healthier than the chickens. The chickens are a constant battle sometimes. I can go months without anyone getting sick and then, wham, I'll have two or three that all have different symptoms and end up treating for three different things. No matter how clean their coop, feeders, and waterers are kept, and despite no new birds being brought in, they still manage to find a way to get sick. I plan on getting them down under 70 birds and keeping it there: 100 is too many. I am going through the birds and narrowing down to a couple of breeds to keep outside my laying flock then culling heavily.
As to the turkeys, I think it depends on the breed. I have limited experience since I just got them this year and only got two breeds. I started with 3 Broad Breasted Bronze (BBB) poults and hatched 15 Beltsville Small White (BSW) turkeys. I was torn between the Beltsville and Midget White. I have read that the Midget White tastes better than the Beltsville, but after weighing all the factors, went with the Beltsvilles. At any rate, I have never eaten a turkey that didn't come from the grocery store, so anything home grown is bound to taste better.
Reasons I went with the Beltsville turkeys:
1. Size. I wanted a smaller bird to maximize the number I could keep.
2. Carcass. This breed was developed by the Department of Agriculture as a broad breasted production type bird. However, they don't grow as large, as fast as the Broad Breasted Whites so can breed naturally and are actually considered a heritage turkey.
3. Health. From what I have read, they are one of the healthiest turkey breeds.
4. Rare. They are on the ABLC list as critically endangered. Their are only a couple known flocks in the US that are not in government hands and a couple in Canada, including one held by a university for research. I am a sucker for rare heritage breeds.
5. APA. They are accepted to the APA and therefore can be shown should I choose to do so.
6. Eggs. This breed is said to be amongst the best layers, but worst mothers. Hopefully, that means fewer broody hens so I can take and sell or incubate their eggs.
Out of the 3 BBB poults I started with, only one survived past three months: He is now ready for processing. If my husband does not find the time to do this soon, we are going to need a bigger oven or to split the bird in half to cook him. I feel bad for the guy. He is sweet and docile, but having a harder time walking with each passing week: He now waddles.
Out of the 15 BSW poults to hatch, they are ALL still alive and filling out very well: The first 10 are 4 months old and the other 5 are 3 months old. The only issue I have had is them pecking at the skin on each others necks during tuffles over dominance.
The turkeys are hilarious and sadly friendlier than I would have hoped. However, my husband will have NO issues ending them. They fly really well, especially the hens, and if we don't clip the flight feathers of one of their wings every 2 weeks they get out of their pasture and cause mischief. Mainly, they have been caught on more than one occasion roosting on one of our vehicles or our tractor. Needless to say the scratched up paint jobs was enough to send my husband into the turkey hater camp. I don't think he will mind killing them at all.
I got some of the shrink bags like grocery store turkeys come in to prolong the time we can freeze them (got some chicken sized ones too). I also have a meat grinder attachment for my stand mixer and may try making ground turkey as well. We really like turkey burgers, and are not big red meat eaters so it should work out pretty well for us.
Good luck with your decision and endeavors ZooWee..... Let us know how you make out!
