Buff, Pilgrim, or Sebastopol?

[shaylabailey]

(I'm not getting geese right now, I'll probably wait until next spring unless I become impulsive but I want 1 or 2)
I contemplated the breeds of geese that I prefer and narrowed it down to The buff, pilgrim, or sebastopol. I really want a goose that will become attached to me, cuddle, and follow me around or something. I just want a really friendly goose.

So any suggestions on the friendliest goose that becomes the most attached? And also will get along with my ducks of course.
Pilgrim and Buff seem easy enough to find, but Sebastopols seem rare so I'm not sure about how I would get one of those haha.

 

[mitchell3006]

I like our Pilgrims. We have a quad of adults, 5 goslings, and 8 under mom right now. They are beautiful birds and fairly quiet as geese go.

 

[Denninmi]

I hatched 3 Pilgrim goslings last month. Right now, they can't get enough of me, and come running the second they see me. I'm sure that will change, but I'd like to keep them friendly as they age. One is more timid and gets nervous at times, but is ok after a minute. I can't comment beyond that because this is my only experience with geese aside from a brief 2 week rehab of an injured adult Canada goose back in the late 1970's, and that one was very wild.

I too contemplated Sebastopols, but geesh, 3 eggs are going for close to $100 with shipping on Ebay, thats a lot to gamble on a questionable outcome.

 

[Eroc1_1]

We just got 3 Pilgrim goslings(1male/2 female) this past weekend. I picked them because of temperament, good mothering, and the rarity of them. Just last night we purchased a female Sebastopol gosling and we are hoping to get a male in the next couple weeks from the same breeder. We picked the Sebastopol for the temperament and beauty....ok, mainly beauty. Right now I can't speak at the long term...

 

[shaylabailey]

Well pilgrim seems to be quite popular, haha. I'm leaning towards Pilgrim now since everyone has nothing but good things to say about them and the sebastopols are so darn expensive haha.

 

[toadbriar]

Hey now, don't underestimate the charm of the buffs! They're a bit larger than the pilgrims or the sebs. I've got a trio from Metzers and I really enjoy them quite a bit. They're so chatty and enthusiastic and happy to see me when I come out. They're lovely with the ducks, and only hiss at the baby goat who's trying to play with them

I think their coloration is gorgeous. Of course you can't sex them by color, but you'll surely get familiar with telling your own geese apart anyhow.

 

[shaylabailey]

The buff's colors do really appeal to me haha. I might just have to get Pilgrims and Buffs!

Also, I just wanted to say that the ducks on the far right in your photo (the black and white ones) are gorgeous! What kind are they?

 

[n4zty]

i got my geese on craiglist i believe thats the best place to buy farm animals i swear here in tampa florida they were selling me some sab for $12 each 8 days old chicks so if ur going to buy from mcmurray hatchery or that other hatchery place expect to pay more for a minium amount. ofcourse the added benefit is that they are sexed and given vaccines to help them grow more healthy but other than that i stay away from the added cost of hatcherys.

 

[toadbriar]

thank you! the ducks are anconas, a good all-rounder medium breed with a calm disposition, which puts out lots of eggs and forages quite well

I love their individual markings, and you can get all sorts of colors out of a single hatch. they're pretty rare, and still unrecognized by the APA, despite having been around for most of a century.

 

[gryeyes]

Toulouse geese. Friendly! I have two goslings I am adding to my flock of chickens and ducks. Everything I've read about the Toulouse sounds good for me.