Geese Breed Focus - Chinese

[sumi]

The Chinese goose is a breed of domesticated goose descended from the wild swan goose. Chinese geese differ from the wild geeses in much larger size and in having an often strongly developed basal knob on the upper side of the bill. The knob at the top of the beak is more prominent on males than females. By 6–8 weeks of age, the knob is already pronounced enough that it can be used for determining gender. Chinese geese are a close cousin of the African goose, a heavier breed also descended from the swan goose.

The Chinese goose makes a good pet and is popular as "guard dogs", since they are quite noisy when strangers are about. Their temperament can be quite different between strains although, as with other geese, their upbringing has a lot to do with their temperament. Care should be taken with ganders if the goose is sitting on eggs, as they have been known to become a little aggressive to visitors at this time. Chinese geese are known to go broody easily.

Chinese geese were admitted to the APA's Standard of Perfection in 1874 and into the British Waterfowl Standards much later in 1954.

Details:

Purpose: Dual - meat and egg laying
Weight: Gander - 11-22 lbs; Goose - 9-19 lbs
Egg laying: 50-60 per breeding season (February-June)
Colour/Varieties: Brown, and White Chinese. (The brown is similar to the wild Chinese swan goose.)


Pic by @BarkingChickens


Pic by @rainplace


Pic by @zazouse

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/chinese

BYC Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/533413/the-african-and-chinese-goose-thread/0_30

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...th-brown-chinese-goose-will-give-me-what/0_30

Do you own Chinese geese? Are you a Chinese geese breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

 

[keiferlou]

Thanks for this post! I just picked up a couple of these guys 2 weeks ago to add to my crew. I had researched and narrowed it down to this breed or the Embden because I wanted an "alarm system" goose but also a friendly one that would be cool with petting and attention. My feed store had both breeds in the the bin and the Chinese just felt like the right ones. Immediately, they were big fans of people! Sam and Bowie are the friendliest baby birds I've ever had. They prefer to sit in your lap or follow you around the yard. I'm looking forward to many entertaining years with these kids!


Bowie on the left, Sam on the right



Bowie and Sam with the new ducks, trying to figure out the swimming thing

 

[NathanZee]

The Chinese goose is a breed of domesticated goose descended from the wild swan goose. Chinese geese differ from the wild geeses in much larger size and in having an often strongly developed basal knob on the upper side of the bill. The knob at the top of the beak is more prominent on males than females. By 6–8 weeks of age, the knob is already pronounced enough that it can be used for determining gender. Chinese geese are a close cousin of the African goose, a heavier breed also descended from the swan goose.

The Chinese goose makes a good pet and is popular as "guard dogs", since they are quite noisy when strangers are about. Their temperament can be quite different between strains although, as with other geese, their upbringing has a lot to do with their temperament. Care should be taken with ganders if the goose is sitting on eggs, as they have been known to become a little aggressive to visitors at this time. Chinese geese are known to go broody easily.

Chinese geese were admitted to the APA's Standard of Perfection in 1874 and into the British Waterfowl Standards much later in 1954.

Details:

Purpose: Dual - meat and egg laying
Weight: Gander - 11-22 lbs; Goose - 9-19 lbs
Egg laying: 50-60 per breeding season (February-June)
Colour/Varieties: Brown, and White Chinese. (The brown is similar to the wild Chinese swan goose.)


Pic by @BarkingChickens


Pic by @rainplace


Pic by @zazouse

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/chinese

BYC Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/533413/the-african-and-chinese-goose-thread/0_30

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...th-brown-chinese-goose-will-give-me-what/0_30

Do you own Chinese geese? Are you a Chinese geese breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

Thank you so much for doing these Geese Breed Focuses! It's time we rename the site to BackyardWaterfowl!

Anyway, I love my african/chinese geese, they are the best pets ever! They walk with me, fly with (past) me, and love going out on foraging trips! The video is Elizabeth, the second picture is also her, and the last picture is James!

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

We had one when I was a kid. Someone had raised it along w/ their chickens but couldn't keep it. We had more property and she fit right in with our hens. She was quite protective of them.

She was an awesome guard goose too. You could tell if she knew the person coming in the gate vs. a stranger. The honk was different.

The neighbor's cat would stalk our hens throughout the day and the goose would nip at the cat if she got too close to her hens. They finally all made peace and were one big happy family after about 6 months.

Someone gave us two Silkie chicks and the goose could hear them in the house and was going NUTSO. She wasn't broody. So we carefully brought her to the chicks and held them in our hands to see what she would do and she took them right under her wing as thought they were hers and raised them. Was really very sweet.

I do remember her bitting at first. Mom would tap her beak and tell her NO and that quickly stopped.

So they are trainable. To some degree anyway.

I wish I had more property today. I'd totally get another one to watch over my chickens.

 

[Robin1970]

Thanks for featuring my favorite! I have a male and female Brown Chinese and they are such a joy to me. I have popped 7 eggs in the incubator and will find out if any are good Thursday.

 

[N F C]

Thanks for featuring my favorite! I have a male and female Brown Chinese and they are such a joy to me. I have popped 7 eggs in the incubator and will find out if any are good Thursday.

Good luck on your hatch! Let us know how it works out

 

[chicken farmer]

Definitely thinking about adding geese to my hobby farm this spring and I think chinese are my favorite so far

 

[rainplace]

@sumi
That photo was of my wonderful Ranaya. She was part of my original flock that I started in 2009. She had an untimely death last year, and I miss her greatly.

Ranaya was the only Chinese goose I owned, and she was loud, obnoxious and a brat. When she was a gosling she liked to ride around in the pocket of my housecoat. As an adult she liked to sit in my lap, chew my hair, take laces out of shoes, and lead the ducks. She laid an ungodly amount of eggs, and though at times she seemed like she might sit, it seemed like she couldn't stand not being part of everyone's business. None of my other geese laid as many eggs as she did, which I understand is a function of her breed. She laid more than the breeds average though, laying over a hundred a year!

It's hard to know if the differences between her and my other geese were due to her breed or how she was raised. She was bossier than the chill Africans and Pomeranians, but not a bully like the Sebastapol and American Lavender Ice. She talked more than any of them, as there was always something to talk about. Seriously, everything set her honker going.

I'm now down to a single goose, Ranaya's mate, Rommy. He's a Plainheaded Roman. I have goslings coming in April, but alas no Chinese. I just cannot handle that long of a laying season. With the male goose being so protective during egg laying, it's too disruptive to my management style. Ranaya was a joy in my life, and I wouldn't trade my time with her for anything, but if she is at all indicative of the breed, I need a goose a little less high maintenance.

R.I.P Ranaya, you wonderful Chinese goose.

 

[sumi]

@rainplace So sorry to hear of your loss… It sounds like she was a quite a character!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Beautiful pics Sumi, and a very popular breed here on BYC. Thanks for show casing them.