Egg laying geese

[kratzfa]

Generally in literature and on the internet it is always said that geese are not very productive egglayers (about 40eggs per year). I have found on the interent references to a type of chinese goose, the Huo Yan or Wulong goose (http://translate.google.com/transla...ct=result&prev=/search?q=huoyan+geese&hl=en%2 , www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4359e/y4359e00.htm#Contents), which aparently lays over 200 eggs per year. Does anybody know if these geese are available anywhere outside China? I think these are important genetics, which should be extensively utilized to improve the egglaying capabilities of all breeds of geese. One of the biggest drawbacks of goose breeding is the extremely low productivity of geese, but with this egglaying gene incorporated would make farming with geese very profitable. I would be very interested to hear more of this, as I would like to start a goose farm for the production of goose feathers and down, but frankly, it would take ages to built up a viable flock!!! There is a worldwide shortage in goose feathers and down. I know of two farmers here in South African, who have flocks of about 1000 Embden type geese. They say geese are very resistant to disase and they prefer to graze grass on pastures, are very low in upkeep. They claim that the profit of their goose enterprise is 2 to 3 times as high of sheep per acre. Th Huo Yang goose is also a very small goose, weighing about 5kg (12lbs.), which would also be much more marketable for meat, as most of the common geese breeds are too large for the general household. Any information on this subject will be of enormous interest to anyone who aims to go into goose production. Frank Kratz [email protected]

 

[goosedragon]

So how many lambs are produced by a ewe each year? That hasn't kept sheep from being widely raised in large flocks. Face it if you want a large flock of geese you are going to have to make an investment of either time or money. Good luck in your search for the 200 egg laying geese.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

The white chinese geese we have in the US lay more eggs than some of the other breeds. They are a smaller goose also. I don't know if they are related at all to the geese you refer to. They don't lay that many eggs though. I have read that some people do breed them to other breeds to increase egg production.