Thank you very much for your most valued opinion...
I would agree that leaving the skin ON would be WAY better & the ideal method BUT (and a big butt I have...). The choices I face now is that the ganders are all mid moulting! There is a window with waterfowl regarding feather regeneration and I have (bad me) missed that timing, my bad...
I did not miss out on the plucking part (got the down harvested)...but stopped going further than that when I met up with this formidable proposition...
Sans down...yeh, those are pin feathers...a pair of needle nose pliers and lots of elbow grease
are about the only true method to remove these quill shafts
plus a real good singe-ing to burn off any filoplumes I miss...
Kinda like what is done with pigs
So...I asked for opinions to make these gander meals better and I appreciate that leaving the skin on would be the very BEST choice for improvement on these meals...so the options I have to accommodate leaving the skin on the three remaining ganders are...
Wait a month to six weeks for full feather growth to finish--I mean even the wing feathers (not fully developed as in webbed out) just pealed off clean with a slight tug...there was no issue in defeathering the gander BUT the pinfeathers on the breast under the down I removed...formidable at this point in time.
Now in a month, my summer off is over and back to work for my wretched butt so I can contribute MY part to buying all the bird seeds we use up here in a year.
I have breeding chicken groups I would like to put in the two ten by ten foot pens the ganders occupied...you know that bad thing about never having enough room...I still have half that building empty but I would like to transfer four breeding groups all at once to the building and make my chore routine more efficient...four pens of chooks, instead of two with four ganders...har har. Such a whiner, eh.
If I process now, pluck for the down that is there (huge bonus is there are practically NO feathers so to speak to sort out of the down in the areas I pluck for down) and harvest the boneless meat, I am avoiding them wretched pin feathers and all the work that entails to remove. Singe-ing the carcass and whatnots would produce a prettier carcass too if I left the skin on. I would tend to lean towards waiting a further 4 to 6 weeks if'n there was a huge bonus as there was not alot of fat on this gander.
These are American Buff geese and fall within the category of not meaty enough to be commercial like an Embdem and not exotic enough like an Egyptian (not really a true goose but I digress) so the American Buff has fallen on hard times and not kept up in greater numbers as a regular old farm goose like they once were. We love them and have chosen to raise this breed in several varieties (Buff, Buff Pied and Tufted) but having four EXTRA ganders that will fight off and on (the one was in a pen by himself, even with no females around, he was pretty mean to the other three boys) is a juggling match I am not really stepping up to referee. Do not get me wrong, given more time these four ganders would all plump up...fat be oozing outta them but I have an opportunity to process them right now and not carry on forward...so gotta think...do them up skinless in a really flavourful recipe (stew and a saucy one)...or wait and get skin and fat...I guess my vote is do the deed now whilst I have the time and ability. Otherwise, go thru winter with four ganders I would ultimately process anyway.
I am use to heritage turkeys at 16 months of age (processing can be done at ten months, but flavour improves substantially waiting 1/2 a year more) and having LOTS of fat...copious amounts and yes, I keep the skin on them for all the savory benefits skin on has for poultry. I like inspecting the innards of anything I process...seeing if I raised them properly...is this one fat...is this one's innards in nice condition...insides tell you alot about your skills at keeping them well and good. I have noticed that the Christmas turkey has more fat reserves than the Easter turkey does...having come thru a winter and all--seems a logical conclusion as to why less fat...they use their fat reserves as insulation and slowly use it to sustain themselves to regulate a nice internal body temperature in cold winters. To shed it off for spring (Easter) has two benefits...able to breed naturally (lard balls don't make great prolific breeders I guess) and shedding the pounds for summer means you mighten deal with heat more comfortably. Seems to make sense.
Innards from 16 month old Lilac Heritage Tom Turkey
I do realize the huge bonus in a goose is the fat and skin portion...crisped and tasty...yes, mouth is watering BUT to wait means I may not get time to process the three remaining ganders until like next spring when the weather is again conducive to processing birds outside and then hoping I do happen to miss the summer/spring moult period--otherwise my butt is grass because I will once again be dealing with pin feather removal if I want the skin ON without too much hassles. My preferred place to process is outside on a cool summer's day.
Now that is some heap of fat off this tom!
This is the gravy I was able to procure off the first tom! Swimming in gravy!
I have missed the window on these ganders for skin on processing...that is MY mistake alone that could be fixed by waiting...but I guess I am not able to justify that. My bad and my fault totally. So doing the next best thing! Process skinless/boneless and miss out on the scrumptious SKIN on factor...sigh.
Hoping I do get to do this more correct in the future as lesson well learnt by my error...we have fifteen adult geese at present and some are nearing 20 years of age...replacements are in order in the next coupla years...hoping the gender ratio is more half and half next round...but if not...whoot to extra ganders if that is the side it decides to swing to! I can process younger ganders before AUGUST and see if'n I can keep their skin on.
Thank you.
We end up with happy meat...not stressed because we all do chores daily, working around them...and they are no wiser when you walk in one day (why I get all things ready before I invite the main character) and whisk one out...hate that part but as a meat eater, I feel one is more than justified to enjoy something you give thanks for to the actual contributor...using all you can of them to pay homage to the life they gave so you could eat meat and use their other benefits to the fullest. I think many a goose, the frozen kind I see on offer would never taste like one you grew and processed yourself. Goose is not a common meal in my neck of the woods...so not got alot to base it on. I hear it is lovely...so here is hoping.
I do have experience with chicken, turkey and duck we have grown ourselves and processed here at home for our own consumption. The flavour IS absolutely amazing because the birds get to live real lives--them factory farms cannot compete taste wise or texture (why one has to rest the meat after processing to get it tender--just like cooler aged beef--meat homegrown is tasty AND firm because it lived a real life). All this is good for you and the birds and just adds to the good that should be in this world, eh.
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Seven pound live weight gander netted two pounds boneless meat (OK...left bones in the legs/thighs!). I rest a 25 pound processed turkey (bone in with skin on) for five days in the fridge and this is a whole new experience for me with the goose/geese. It is boneless (pretty much) and I am an uncertain NEWBIE in this aspect as to how long to leave it in the fridge before cooking? First dish is long slow with moisture...that means even if'n it was not a long enough rest...low, slow and with moisture should solve that issue unto itself. One gander done yesterday, hoping at least one more today (pending weather conditions) and do the goose stew on Sunday (so that is 3 days resting in cold storage)...then the breasts on Monday or Tuesday. Have to see. At least this way I have a scape goat (goat as in chevon?)...if'n the goose turns out tough (not likely in a crock as stew, eh but the fried and oven roasted breast meats...that could be tough perhaps?), then if rubbery...I need to add a few MORE days resting. That be the plan of mice & WOman I guess. 
And for the eight goose breasts I shall soon have (gotta remember not to count my chicks before they are hatchetted)...will try this one out first for four of the eight...see if'n we like it. 
but before eaten, eh. 
Doggone & Chicken UP! Tara Lee Higgins Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
