I bought these two juvenile geese this spring as companions for my lone roman tufted goose. She has taken to them and I will be keeping them either way, but I am starting to suspect they are not what I was told they are. I purchased them as purebred American Buff geese, and they both appear to be females. However, since buying them when they were, I was told, eight to ten weeks old, they have not really grown much and certainly not to the size I would expect. They are still a bit smaller than my roman tufted female, which should not be the case. They are on a diet of flock raiser and they graze all day, so it's not a nutrition issue. They also don't seem to be built like I would expect an American Buff to be. The breeder that I got them from is very reputable and only keeps this breed, and it was suggested to me that perhaps they are actually crosses with a wild goose father. Here is a size comparison of them next to my roman tufted female:
And a close up of one of them:
They are also pretty averse to humans. Even my most skittish poultry learned to run to me when I'm holding the food scoop, but these guys will not, and they do not like it if I start to even walk in their direction. They are also fairly good fliers, able to get above my head and fly across the yard, which I was not expecting.
So, what does everyone think? Crossbreeds? If so, with what?
And a close up of one of them:
They are also pretty averse to humans. Even my most skittish poultry learned to run to me when I'm holding the food scoop, but these guys will not, and they do not like it if I start to even walk in their direction. They are also fairly good fliers, able to get above my head and fly across the yard, which I was not expecting.
So, what does everyone think? Crossbreeds? If so, with what?