Choosing my first geese

[DB_Tex]

Quote:
Very good to know!!

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Hey dusky

If I was ever to get geese I would totally get them from holderreads. Wish I would have gone to holdereads first to get my WH's. Now im gonna be getting 6 TSQ welsh harlies 3 silkieducks, and one of something else. Im totally kicking myself in the head about no ordering from him

you wont go wrong with holderreads. Ask though im kinda sad he doesnt have pilgrims anymore

thats my favorite breed becuase you can auto sex them, and I hear there nice geese. My dad is getting 10 pilgrims from ideal next year, I keep telling him to go to metzers, but he doesnt lisen :rolleyes)

But personoly I would get pilgrims

 

[Oregon Blues]

The shipping boxes can be divided into compartments, so it should be possible to get both geese and ducks in the same shipment. It would depend upon how many birds you were getting. The best thing to do would be to call Metzer or email Holderread and ask about their shipping policy for combined shipments.

Holderread actually specializes in the largest geese. He is most famous for his Dewlap Toulouse, which are enormous geese. He is a Master Breeder of Dewlap Toulouse. He sells Giant Africans and the Americans I have from him, aren't the size of Dewlap Toulouse, but they are big birds.

I know the assortments are cheap, and if that is what the budget is, then they are a very good bargain. But if you have a specific use for the geese I always think it is better to buy sexed pairs and get exactly the geese that will do what you want. If the budget is tight, buy fewer geese, but get the best ones for the job.

If you don't know what geese you want, the assortments are good. You get to try different breeds. Geese live a very long time, but if you get geese you find you don't like, you can always eat them. It's difficult to know what geese you want if you have never lived with geese.

[[[[........VITALLY Important question! How do you raise and train your geese Oregon Blues?.......]]]]]

My geese are raised like geese, not like lap dogs. I am the flock boss and my wishes are law. I walk straight, they get out of the way. They back off when I fill the feeders and they are not fed out of hand. My geese are very social. They have no fear of me and like to follow me around and talk to me. Geese are very smart and easy to train. But that means they can learn bad behavior as quickly as they learn good behavior, so I stop them the second they do something they shouldn't do. I have a harsh "eh" sound that will stop them in their tracks.

The flock boss says they are not allowed to chase or bite humans and they obey the law. Nibbles can turn into bites and their serrated beaks are like knives and easily cut through things much harder than human flesh. You don't want them to ever start thinking it is OK to bite because they can really hurt you.

 

[DB_Tex]

Does anyone know if Holderread will do sexed pairs on gosling assortments? It would be pretty tragic if I found a breed or two I liked out of the assortment but I had too many males to maintain them. We decided to go the fancy assortment route to get our feet wet to a variety of breeds on an animal that is new to us.

I'm glad they still do the larger breeds. I can't lie-- It's a perfect excuse to get the SQ ducks I've been wanting to slip into the livestock budget this year. I have only so many bucks to invest this spring, and I'm trying to squeeze the most value from it-- I'm trying to get not only project geese, but also meat turkeys and pekins and hoping to squeeze out a dairy animal in the budget as well.

The main reason I went with Metzer last spring was because they were the best hatchery geographically close to me (other option was Privett). I ordered campbells from Ideal first and lost more than half the babies in shipping. They are nice quality birds, but it broke my heart to see all the little dead ducklings in my very first poultry box (live chick money back guarantee or no). I lost NONE in shipping my first Metzer order.

 

[Jen C]

They offer sexed pairs on the top show quality assortments, but not on the fancy or bargain gosling assortments.

 

[DB_Tex]

Yeah, I thought not. I'm not sure if it's still worth it if my ratio on straight run is bad. At least with Metzer's package I will know I have pairs-- I just can't lose any in the brooding process.

 

[mominoz]

I have had 2 orders from Holderreads and 2 from Metzger. (one 20 years ago). Both arrived fine and healthy. Holderreads always throw in an extra or 2. I did lose one runner one year, but they are sort of fragile genetically anyway... I have Tufted Buffs from Metzger,4. (also had geese years ago). I tried to follow the no handfeeding rule. And they aren't aggressive, except when I bent over to put food in feeder ai had some nipping problems. I got rid of one pair because they started picking on my ducks./ The other pair is territorial about food and when I put them up at night a duck better not run in their pen, otherwise they leave the ducks alone. Although one day my huge Saxony from Holderreads actually went after the goose a bit. I have 3 shetland ganders I ordered 5 without getting sexed pairs, thinking i'd probably get more than one girl, not! I did lose both the girl and the smalllest boy....first loses in 3 years, not sure why..they got weak and didn't make it around 5 months.....But the other little males are fine, just no girls! They are friendly and get under foot, but haven't shown aggression to me. I didn't handle them much and they were raise with a flock of ducks. They occasionally nip at a duck during feeding....but they are about the size of my Saxony and runners, say7- 8 lbs at 7 months. Holderreads just has such nice birds , I have some mini ducks and you can't beat his runners.....

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

I have Pilgrims from Ideal, they are my first geese and I LOVE them. Both the males and females are non-aggressive and quiet too! They also make a decent meat goose as they get pretty big.

 

[r4eboxer]

I have owned 2 pair of Pilgrim Geese since October. They are 4 years old. I don't have any other experience with geese but these 4.

I have had no trouble at all with my geese. They are not aggressive in my definition of the word, I kind of wonder how geese can hurt a human? My geese do make a raquet and flap their wings when my Lhasa male goes outside but other than that they are baby dolls. I like that they can be sexed by color and am looking forward to eggs in the spring. I feel a little confused about talk of how geese are mean and cause lots of problems. Maybe I just have some really good natured geese? I would recommend Pilgrims to anyone, my ducks are 10 times harder to take care of than my geese.

ON EDIT
I found this on The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy about Pilgrims. I read it before but thought you might be interested.

The Pilgrim goose is known for being calm and personable. It is the only American goose breed that is auto-sexing. "Day-old males are silver-yellow with light-colored bills, in contrast to the olive-gray females with their darker bills. Adult ganders [males] are mostly white, usually with gray rumps (which are covered by the wings) and traces of color in the tail and wings. Mature geese [females] are soft dove-gray with varying amounts of white in their faces. Bills and legs are orange in both sexes, while the eyes are blue in ganders and dark brown in geese." (Holderread, 1981).

Pilgrims are medium-sized geese, weighing 13 - 14 pounds at maturity. The head is trim, the crown is often slightly flattened and the neck is average in length and thickness. Their bodies are full and plump, with a smooth, keelless breast. They should have two rounded fatty lobes on the abdomen. Properly managed, they lay 35-45 six to seven ounce white eggs annually.

"Pilgrims are rugged, quiet, docile, good foragers, excellent natural parents and make good medium-sized roasting birds. Because they are sex-linked for color, it is a simple matter - even for the novice - to keep the correct ratio of males to females when selecting young for future breeders. Ganders can be mated with three to five geese." (Holderread, 1981). When selecting for breeding stock "look for broad backs and breasts that are keelless. Stay away from using birds with any sign of a knob (an indication of crossbreeding), long necks and legs, shallow breasts, ganders with excessive gray in the plumage and geese with predominantly white necks. Because Pilgrims are noted for being sweet-tempered, this trait should be considered when retaining birds for reproduction." (Holderread, 1981). For those seeking a medium-weight goose, Pilgrims are an excellent choice for the home goose flock.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
my Pilgrims came from Ideal, I love them. Wouldn't order anywhere else.