Ok! One Flap Or Two What Is It?

[echix]

I have been told and heard so many rumors - others are even saying it......

When a goose/gander has that double lobe/flap thing between it's legs some are saying "that's a female" and others say a male only has one flap/lobe....

My goose Nanna has the double flap and my ganders have the "keel" type with one flap. BUT!!! My female Embden only has 1 flap - figure that!!

So I can't tell on my goslings that are old enough now - all have double flaps - could they all be females?? 8 months now.

ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS IF THIS IS A LEGIT WAY TO SEX GEESE??

 

[pete55]

I dont think it is at all. There are breeds which should be single lobed and others which should be double lobed but its not known as an indicator of sex. Other methods include looking at their general build, behaviour and listening to their voices. Of course there's always vent sexing but it takes time and experience to learn or DNA testing

 

[crj]

Quote:
I was wondering the same thing. Although instead of calling it double lobe I thought it looked more like "bloomers!" Girls wear bloomers and I figured the boys had the keel. It was just a thought and I'm probably wrong.

 

[roboboy]

Lobes have nothing to due with sexing geese. Only during breeding season may it have some merit becuase the lobes on laying geese tend to get a little larger and look more rough or ragged in appearance, but even then I would not use it solely in sex identification. The keel is the breastbone, all birds have it but in some exhibition varites of geese and ducks (toulouse, rouen, aylesbury) it becomes over sized and drags on the ground.

 

[echix]

Oh GREAT!!

I have 4 goslings all have 2 lobes and I though they were all females..... now I'm noticing strange things.... oh geez! They are all about 5-6 months old so I will just have to wait and see what they do I guess! HOPE I DON'T HAVE 4 NEW GANDERS!!!!!!!

 

[crj]

Quote:
How old were your geese when you got them? If they were day olds then you maybe able to tell by the color. You can color sex some geese at that age. The ones with the darker brown would be a girl and the ones with the light brown would be the boy. This over yellow btw. I know this isn't in all breeds but it might help a little.

 

[gryeyes]

Lobes? The folded part of their "bottom" between their legs? I have a Toulouse pair, and both have two of those folds. Really, the only way I can tell the difference between them is the gander is slightly larger (right now, anyway; earlier the goose was larger but I got them from two different places, so the age on the gander is a guess - neither one is fully mature, yet). Oh, and Kate has a more aristocratic slope to her bill, and the tip is white. Angus has a bit of a dip in his bill between the eyes, not a straight line slope, and he has a bit of darker at the tip of his bill, in the white tip portion.

None of those are gender characteristics, just the way I tell them apart.

 

[pete55]

Im afraid you're going to have to cross your fingers until you know for sure

Have you any photos of them?

Pete

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you have a mixture of number of lobes in the same hatch, all you've got is proof of impure breeding. Your geese aren't purebreds.

 

[crj]

Quote:
I don't know about that. I have 2 pure bred geese from Metzer Farms that have 2 lobes. Although, I don't know how many in the hatch had 2 lobes.