Need a goose breed for The Peach State

[jjdward]

I have chickens and ducks and I'm thinking of getting some geese. What breeds do well in the south? I live about 50 miles due west of atlanta and it gets hot and muggy here. I think I remember reading about "cotton patch geese'' but I may be wrong. I need some suggestions and can't think of a better group of folks to ask!!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

There is a breed known as cottonpatch, though from my understanding it is very difficult if not impossible to find them! I would think if you have a pond or such for them to cool off in, they should be fine. Maybe the bigger breeds like toulouse or embdens might have a tougher time, since they are so big. I would imagine that they would get hot very easily. But if you have a pond and someplace for them to lay in the shade, I would think they'd be fine.

 

[Calebs Acre]

I've tried and tried to get Cotton Patch Geese. I thought I'd won one on Eggbid and the guy backed out!

I bought Sebastopols and Dewlap Toulouse geese from a breeder near Atlanta, GA and they did well there.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
The cottonpatch goose is a left over from the days before chemical herbicides when geese were used to weed the fields. The few remaining are crossbreeds that remained on isolated farms for generations (geese generations that is) after the practice fell out of use. The original "weeder" geese were Chinas because the goslings were the cheapest and they were well suited to the task. White were favored because they dressed out better for the table. Most were one season birds because the young birds worked better and no one wanted to carry over a flock during the winter.
BTW I asked the question of breeds for the South when I first ordered from Holderreads' years ago. Reply said that as long as I could provide shade and water, any could be raised but that lighter breeds were more likely to thrive in my NC conditions. I ordered Pilgrims and Tufted Romans and was very happy with those breeds.

 

[jjdward]

Thanks fot the help. If anybody else knows where i might get som cotton patch geese, let me know.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
I dug through my old issues of The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy News. Dec 2005 had a article on Cotton Patch Geese by Mark See. His contact info at that time was [email protected] He seems to be very serious about conserving his breed of Goose.

 

[WMDAVIS99]

Quote:
$200 for a pair: http://www.greenfirefarms.com/store/cotton-patch-geese

 

[mominoz]

I used to live West of Atlanta about 30 miles and I had Chineses, Pilgrim,Sebastropol, and Tufted Roman and evryone did fine. I did have lots of trees on my property and had a water tub for them to play in.
I now have Tufted Buffs.
I don't think heat is that much of a problem, if hot they swim or find a cool spot on the ground. Remember the ground is always cool....