I want geese

[Rock Wyandotte]

I, too, have to say that I love my geese - two beautiful female Pilgrims. They have so much personality and follow us around the yard and want to be involved in everything. Very, very different from our chickens. I just couldn't ever eat them or their offspring.

 

[Puddle Foot Farm]

I love my geese. I have one toulouse and four white chinese. My chinese are young, but so far they're extremely nice. One of them comes up to me right away every time I walk in, and they all love attention. Sometimes they act nicer than my toulouse.. Who is a great goose, no doubt.

Next year, I'm hopefully getting a good amount of cotton patch geese.. As well as some giant dewlap africans. They're supposed to be wonderful. I'm excited.

 

[momma's chickens]

I have a pair of Tufted Buff geese and absolutely love them. They are wonderful. They have their own personality and I could never eat them. They are like my little babies.

 

[Soccer Mom]

I love my dewlap Africans. They're huge and noisy, but back down very quickly if you "call them" on any aggression. In short, they are big babies. I have 10 and they have minor squabbles among themselves and try to push around the donkeys and guinea hens, but like I said--they back down quickly.

I'm not overly sentimental and we raise lots of animals for food, but my DH is sort of distressed that I've told him these geese are off limits. No goose for Christmas. They are all such unique individuals, I simply couldn't eat any of them.

 

[bufforp89]

I have a pair of brown chinese geese that I have mixed feelings about lol. Some times they are fine and dont bother me at all but some times I would like to be rid of them for good. I have had them since they were day olds and handled them lots daily but they have huge attitudes. I am hoping they will get better with time and more training. They are deffiently not a breed I would reccomend based on personal experience.

 

[farmerlor]

I got my geese to breed for meat but as many have mentioned they really are entirely too cool to eat. At first they're so cute, and then they go through the not-so-cute, very, very messy and noisy stage and you wonder what you were thinking about when you paid good money for these animals. THEN they mature a little, and while they're still noisy and messy the personality gets to you and mine are incredibly protective of THEIR flock. The fox who used to come and check out the security system no longer comes by since the geese started threatening her. And they seem to get along with everyone. The chickens, the turkeys and ducks are never picked on by the geese.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that raises animals for meat, but just can't bring myself to eat the geese.

 

[duck walk]

I have no problem processing the chickens and I have dressed goats and all of that, but I can not look a duck or a goose in the eye and murder them...I have never been that hungry and think I would nearly starve to death before I could kill one of them...

 

[Sasa]

Do you have any Buff hens you want to sell? Where in CO are you?, I'm North of Boulder.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I did soem research and I guesss I will have to wait until next year for eggs. Has anyone ever eaten a goose or the eggs?

I've got a goose thawing in the fridge right now. it is excellent meat. All dark, reminiscent of duck, but better. The bigger the percentage of grass in their diet, the better the meat is.

Goose eggs are the best tasting eggs of all, but they are too valuable to eat. They are valuable for decorating blown eggs, so you can eat them at that point and use the shell to make art work, or even sell the empty shells..

If the OP saw huge geese at the show, they were probably Africans or Dewlap Toulouse. Expensive birds, both of those breeds, if you buy good quality. Cheap hatchery birds won't be anything like the ones you saw at the show.

I'll have Pomeranian hatching eggs available in the very early spring. This is awfully late for goose eggs, except for Chinese and (possibly) African. They lay more eggs and thus have a longer laying season.