Best goose...

[Kabootar]

One goose? Not a good idea... (for the goose)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nt-keep-just-one-goose.1220177/#post-19515219

I agree with the post. However that is what I meant. If you keep more than one goose they will bond together and they will not gaurd the flock. They will spend all day together grazing around.

 

[Rondack]

I agree... If you want a guard you should get a lone Chinese...

 

[Rondack]

Now sevastopol is in the lead!

 

[Rondack]

Why are they so expensive? Do they make good parents?

 

[Gray Farms]

Why are they so expensive? Do they make good parents?

They are typically not good parents at all. They tend to step on them and don't keep track of them very well. There are exceptions of course don't get me wrong. But in nearly 15 years breeding Sebastopols I've never had any successfully raise goslings from hatch. I've always taken them and raised them myself. Or at least got them to about 2 months old and then gave them back to them. I try once in a while to let them raise them, but it never works out. They are just to valuable in my opinion to leave it to chance.

Their price is due to their rarity. Which is primarily due to that they don't lay very well, thus not many available each breeding season. And the price also depends on the quality as with any other breed. But I've seen the prices dropping in the last 5 years or so. When I started out it was nothing to pay $300 or more for a breeding pair and $100 for a gosling. Now a person can buy breeding pairs for $150 or so and goslings for $40-$50. But that's for whites. In the last few years there has been a major upsurge of breeding colored Sebastopols. And colored birds command higher prices such as blues, buffs, grays, lavenders, or saddlebacks.

 

[Rondack]

What about personality? Are they calm or aggressive?

 

[Kabootar]

What about personality? Are they calm or aggressive?

They are calm and tend to be less vocal, except for the breeding season ofcourse. However they are rather clumsy.

 

[Rondack]

What about African geese, they don't have any votes yet...

 

[Gray Farms]

They are calm and tend to be less vocal, except for the breeding season ofcourse. However they are rather clumsy.

Took the words right out of my mouth. They watch me more than their own feet and trip over stuff all the time. They are pretty good even at breeding time unless you get close to the nest. Never had one chase me ever.

 

[Farmer Doc]

So here's the funny part, we were given two Chinese geese from a colleague at work as they were not getting along well in her barnyard. I have no other geese experience, but how can you not like free?!

We are raising them as dual purpose (meat and eggs) and our young lady has given us a ton of eggs. She lays every other day like clockwork and has done so since November with just a few small breaks in the winter.

Noisy? Yes, our barnyard sounds like it has a herd of velociraptors when the male gets going. Cute? Sure. Friendly, to everyone except me. I think the male sees me as the "head bird" of the barnyard and likes to challenge me often even though his "wife" tries to discourage his efforts with speech and feather tugging. He doesn't complete trust my wife either. Entertaining? Completely!

Here's a shot of some of our babies from the incubator recently with a duck in the middle!