Pilgrim females?

[JoJoM]

I have 5 goslings just over 3 weeks old. While the farm I got the eggs from had 2 Pilgrim geese and a Pilgrim gander, they also had one American Buff goose and one Pomeranian gander. The five goslings are all quite similar, 2 are bigger than the rest. When I tried to vent sex them, I thought go by all females, but definitely could have done it wrong!!

If anyone has thoughts I’d love to hear them! I may have to get rid of a couple, so I keeping 2 females and a male would be ideal.

Ignore the duck! She just thinks she’s a goose.

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7093318026690317573

 

[Goosebaby]

It’s impossible to say at this age

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Agree with @Goosebaby. Because they may potentially be mixes, it's possible they may be colored like Pilgrim females but some may actually turn out to be males.

They're all adorable.

 

[JoJoM]

Agree with @Goosebaby. Because they may potentially be mixes, it's possible they may be colored like Pilgrim females but some may actually turn out to be males.

They're all adorable.

Thanks all! I’ll try to be more patient and see how they feather out. Two seem way too big to not be males, so I’ll try the vent check in another few days. I love them regardless, I can’t believe how snuggly they are.

 

[NatJ]

While the farm I got the eggs from had 2 Pilgrim geese and a Pilgrim gander, they also had one American Buff goose and one Pomeranian gander. The five goslings are all quite similar

I just went and looked at a thread on goose genetics
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/our-guide-to-colour-and-pattern-genetics-in-geese.561779/

Based on what it says, figured the possible offspring of all those geese & ganders.

If all your goslings have 1 copy of the dilution gene, and do not show any other genes, they must be on this list:
Pure Pilgrim females.
Pilgrim x Buff females or males. (Males would carry Buff but not show it, females would not have the buff gene.)
Pomeranian x Pilgrim males. (They would carry pied, but not show it.)

I ruled out all of these crosses:
Pure Pilgrim males. (would be white)
Pomeranian x Pilgrim females. (would be pied like Pomeranians)
Pomeranian x Buff females. (would be pied like Pomeranians)

You probably do not have any Pomeranian x Buff males. They would be darker gray, the color of Toulouse. If you have any that grow up darker gray than the rest, they might be males of this cross. But if all your goslings continue to be the same shade of gray as each other, then you don't have this cross either.

 

[JoJoM]

I just went and looked at a thread on goose genetics
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/our-guide-to-colour-and-pattern-genetics-in-geese.561779/

Based on what it says, figured the possible offspring of all those geese & ganders.

If all your goslings have 1 copy of the dilution gene, and do not show any other genes, they must be on this list:
Pure Pilgrim females.
Pilgrim x Buff females or males. (Males would carry Buff but not show it, females would not have the buff gene.)
Pomeranian x Pilgrim males. (They would carry pied, but not show it.)

I ruled out all of these crosses:
Pure Pilgrim males. (would be white)
Pomeranian x Pilgrim females. (would be pied like Pomeranians)
Pomeranian x Buff females. (would be pied like Pomeranians)

You probably do not have any Pomeranian x Buff males. They would be darker gray, the color of Toulouse. If you have any that grow up darker gray than the rest, they might be males of this cross. But if all your goslings continue to be the same shade of gray as each other, then you don't have this cross either.

This is amazing! Thank you for taking the time to do that. Some of the genetics posts go a bit over my head, to be honest. This totally helps! I may use this thread to post progress pics in case others would like to reference in the future.

 

[JoJoM]

I thought I’d update this as the goslings grow in case anyone is ever in a similar situation. Here are a few pictures at 5 weeks old. They are all a similar grey but one of the smaller ones has a different pattern on her back.

The others on their back and some random pics.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

They look identical to my Pilgrim girls still! Mine are 6 weeks old today and except for their fluffy heads, they are about 98% feathered. I have read that similar breeds have a preference for each other. If so, it is most likely the Pilgrims mated exclusively with each other, giving you pure bred Pilgrim females. Either way, they are all precious and I don’t know how you will be able to part with any of them!

 

[JoJoM]

They look identical to my Pilgrim girls still! Mine are 6 weeks old today and except for their fluffy heads, they are about 98% feathered. I have read that similar breeds have a preference for each other. If so, it is most likely the Pilgrims mated exclusively with each other, giving you pure bred Pilgrim females. Either way, they are all precious and I don’t know how you will be able to part with any of them!

I’ve noticed that 3 of them have low hanging bellies where the other 3 don’t. You can see it between their legs from behind. I’ll see if I can get a picture. I really have to figure out how to sex them, I need to rehome a few!

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

I am thinking that my geese are growing way too fast. They seem to be way more feathered than yours, and it was 2 to 3 weeks ago when we thought they had low hanging bellies. It just turned out to be the feathers growing in all around the top of their legs. It is so cute. Would love to see a pic though to see if that is the same as we thought was happening. My girls are fed organic starter duck feed and more grass than they could ever want. Their wingspan is already about 3 feet. I hope this is normal and I’m not doing something wrong! With today being their six week old birthday, I have allowed them to become free range (Inside a 1+ acre fenced area) during the day. They are bigger than almost all of the chickens and roosters, but I still worry so much about them.