cotton patch geese

[Silver Spring Waterfowl]

Good for you, Serina81! Are you a member of any of the heritage breeder associations? That's also a good way to get some exposure. Would you mind sending me an email or PM and explaining what steps you had to take and hoops you had to jump through to attain non-profit status? That's what we are essentially are for our Buffs. Glad you had a safe trip home!

 

[Serina81]

Goosedragon: Yes, I artificially incubate. Otherwise you can generally get two clutches. Sometimes I incubate the first two clutches and let momma incubate the third clutch just because it's so cute to see her with her goslings.

Barred Rocks Forever: Go for Cotton Patch!

Kathy: Good idea with the associations. I've been so busy putting together the nonprofit that I haven't had time to keep up my memberships, but I'll get back into them soon. I'll send you a PM about the nonprofit soon. BTW, there are special tax rules for nonprofit farms where you don't have to officially be a 501(c)3. I'm not an expert, but you might want to look into that.

 

[Silver Spring Waterfowl]

Thank you so much! DH will be happiest man alive if I can get that worked out. He's learned that there is a major league difference in kidding about being married to Ellie May Clampett and Living It. Look forward to hearing from you. We breed the Buffs and want to raise really good stock, but it's a long process and intended to be a conservancy. I would like to have some other breeds as well, but our focus is on the Buffs for now. There will never be a lot of money to be made in geese. Lucky for us, we both have caps on our income that we cannot exceed!

 

[AuroraSprings]

Serina - Do you have Tom's contact email? I have tried the one listed here and CANNOT get ahold of him. I've been trying for two years now. Mark See sold me the pair I have, but I have several question for Tom. Plus, do you know who's in charge of "officiating" new lines at the ALBC? I think I may have found a lead on a new, untapped line of Cotton Patch. Is there anyone working on a breed association that you know of?

 

[Serina81]

Tom's email is [email protected] and he's usually great at getting back to you. He's not selling anymore goslings because all his geese are at my place! But he's still very interested in helping with the breed. I am actually working on starting an association. Tom is writing up a breed standard that we can use. I thought these geese need to be registered to keep track of them. I have a family member who is a scientist and we're looking into DNA testing for the geese, although that may not work out exactly since us breeders are working on "fixing" a breed that was almost lost. We'll see. I also thought the geese would need to be registered after they were old enough to see that their bill and feet were pink.

 

[Serina81]

Oh and I'm not sure about the ALBC, I tried asking them about cotton patch issues and basically got no replies. Could you PM me about this new line? Sounds very interesting.

 

[AuroraSprings]

Okay, I'd like to help you get the association started. I'm talking to Dr. Sponenburg about them and he agrees that there needs to be a forum or some type of communication among breeders. How many breeders are you in contact with? How do you plan to get the association started? What other association are you using as a template to base this one off of? I will ask Dr. Sponenburg if there is a genetic base for us to test against to ensure purity.

 

[awesomefowl]

Could cotton patch geese help weed a garden? Or would they eat the plants?

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
The answer to both questions is YES! You really have to know what they like to use them for weeding. If your garden has things they like like tender salad greens they will gobble them down in a heartbeat.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Why? Aren't their bills and feet pink when hatched?