African geese

[LinckHillPoultry]

A few questions.
First of all, I'll start out saying that about 1 1/2 months ago, I bought 4 geese. I was told 2 embden, and 2 toulouse. They were young, and the embdens were, as told, embdens. However, the "toulouse" development has started to take a different course, a non toulouse course, but they appear rather to be africans.
I have looked at toulouse pictures, and non of them look like what my "toulouse" geese are turning out to be.

My "toulouse" have a long dark, almost black streak running down from their head all the way along their neck to their back. Their feet are black. Instead of having the white bellies, their bellies are more of a cream.

They don't have dewlaps though. My question is, at what stage of development for a young african, when will they develop their dewlap? Do they have to have a dewlap?



I will try to get pictures. No promises though.


Thanks!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

From my understanding, not all toulouse develope dewlaps. You have to get particular bloodlines for those. I do not know much about the breeds, but I do know that about the toulouse. LOL

-Kim

 

[KLH2010]

Wolf-kim is right...a lot of toulouse do not have a dewlap. I believe the africans have a knob on top of their bill, also. Good luck!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Sounds like an african. Could you post a picture?

 

[Ace_king_brahma]

Sounds like Africans to me too. Some Africans develop dewlaps some don't. Ideal sales non-delwaps. All Africans develop the knob someone mentioned. Also brown chinesse look like Africans too since they pretty much started off as a chinesse/african cross.

 

[Omniskies]

That doesn't sound like a Toulouse at all. The easiest way to tell is to look at the bill: Toulouse have a nice orange bill and Africans have a pure black.

Africans develop a dewlap very slowly. I found this information while Googling:

Respected American breeder Dave Holderread says that mature African geese have a large, forward-inclining knob on the forehead, which requires several years to fully develop. (Matt's understanding is that in the African, the knob continues to grow slowly throughout its life.) A smooth, crescent-shaped dewlap hangs from its lower jaw and upper neck. The dewlap may become ragged in shape as the bird ages. Its body is nearly as wide as it is long. It is keelless, and has a smooth, rounded abdomen with little or no fatty lobe development. The tail points up and folds up neatly. The eyes are large and deep-set. Its value in the Northern Hemisphere as a meat bird derives from its being, despite its weight, a leaner bird than the Toulouse or Embden.

Matt said that 'the stance should be 35 to 40 degrees above the horizontal whereas Chinese geese stand much more upright. Africans have a nice, big head whereas Chinese have a fine head. The African's neck is swan shape, but thicker than the long slender neck of the Chinese. Some individuals don't get the dewlap until over 18 months old, whilst others might develop one at 6 months. The dewlap runs down from the bill into the neck. The knob should be oriented slightly forward. Paunch should not touch the ground.'​

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

Update:

I made a mistake while writing my first post here. When I said black feet, I meant they have a black bill and orange feet. It looks that they might be developing dewlaps. I sure hope they're africans!

 

[Elisi]

I noticed that no one mentioned that there are 2 kinds of African geese, brown & gray. Both look simuliar in coloration and both have the head knob but the bodies and necks are different. The browns (more commen) have the due lap, a shorter thicker body and neck. The grays are taller and slender in compairesan. They have a longer, more slender neck (they look more like a swan than a goose) The grays do not have the due lap. I don't know if the grays would be cioncidered rare but they are certainly harder to find. Information on the grays is hard to find as well.

At 6 months old you should be able to identify which kind you have. It would be very helpfule if you could post a photo! In any case in joy! I love my geese, they are so entertaining!!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Elisi, those are just colorations.mthere are two types though. production (from hatcheries) and then there are the beautiful Africans that come in grey and brown and develop the dewlaps. These can only be bought from breeders.