Rut roh! I shouldn't have looked!!

[gritsar]

It's all y'all fault really, for always talking about your lovely geese!
In my heart of hearts I really wanted geese for our pond, but knew I shouldn't push my luck. First the chickens, then the forbidden goat, not to mention the SURPRISE ducks. I'm gonna be in enough trouble for the ducks, tyvm. I don't want to cause WWIII by getting geese, known for their noise and (don't hate me here) but their not-so-sweet temperments. I settled on cayuga ducks, two pairs.
Then I went surfing around looking at the different hatcheries websites and y'all posts. Turns out McMurray says Buff Geese (or what Ideal calls American Buff Geese) are described as gentler, quieter geese.
Oh what to do??? What should I order???

Please don't suggest both...I've already thought of that. I've also thought about my SO's massive gun collection and the fact that he has his service revolver on 80% of the time.

So, anyone have buff geese? How noisy are they, really?

 

[brooster]

Get the Buffs. Thay are more pretty.

 

[ksacres]

Sebestepols and Pilgrims are known to be more docile in nature. About the buff, I really have no idea.

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

There are many breeds of geese with calmer temperments than others. Before we got into geese I went by the same opinion as what you use to have, that they have bad temperments, but once I got into them I really fell in love. Like I said before it really all depends on the kind you get. Yes, buffs are pretty, but I'm going to stick to my sebastopols and pilgrim for awhile, I will most likely expand into other breeds. Some geese I suggest are the Buff, Embden, Gray, Pilgrim, Pomeranian, Roman, Sebastopol, Shetland, & toulouse. The Africans, chinese, & egyptians can get quite the temperment. Now do take into mind that if you get more than one gander, that they will get aggressive to eachother in the breeding season, but until then they can be kept together. They are also noisy. Besides that I think that you would enjoy geese. I hope I helped, & good luck.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
The sebestepols were my first choice (before the buffs) and I was going to get them no matter what, but Ideal doesn't carry them and I definitely want to order my chickens from Ideal as they are the only hatchery I've found that carries all 3 varieties of brahma that are sexed (not straight run). I've been told by Ideal that they could put a few ducks in my box instead of extra roos (for warmth). What would be totally awesome is if Atwoods is getting the sebestepols in as one of their geese varieties. We're going up there next week and I am gonna ask their customer service mgr. about it. Gonna go look at the pilgrims again too.
I need to correct my earlier post by saying that in cayugas I planned on getting 3 females, one drake (not 2 pair). If I were to get geese instead I'd want 3 females to one male, correct?

 

[Omniskies]

I know it's a bit late to respond, but I'm new and was scouring for threads about Pilgrim geese

I ordered Buff geese from McMurray last year and ended up selling all but one of them. They are definitely quieter than your other geese, but they are still talkative from what I saw. Then again, that could be the bad influence from our Embdens and Toulouse.

I'm planning on selling my Buff goose, along with all of my others, and starting fresh with strictly Pilgrim geese. Pilgrims are an absolute pain to come across and are more expensive than the rest. I called Ideal hatchery to order theirs and discovered that they have a year long waiting list so they aren't taking any more orders for Pilgrims this year.

Still, Pilgrims are more docile than other breeds and much quieter. They are a smaller goose (medium category) so the waste they unceremoniously leave all over your yard is smaller and they eat less. On top of all of these benefits, they are one of the only geese you can autosex at birth and as adults. No guessing needed: grey for the goose, white for the gander.

If you do order geese and want a high fertility then I've heard that it is one gander to every one or two geese. Fertility drops big time after that.

I'm in southwestern Missouri near Branson, so if you decide on Pilgrims and would like some of my extras let me know. That or if you order a bunch to fill an order and would like to sell/trade some from a different line I'd love to know.

Good luck with your great goose quest

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Grits, you are hilarious!!! Of course you should order, lol!!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I have a Seb mix and a Toulouse (Hatchery quality). both are relatively quiet, but they do have their outbursts every now and again! Great "watchdogs" though. My seb mix goose is particularly sweet! The Toulouse used to be very sweet as a gosling, but is definitely more reserved now. They will be a year old this spring, and I have not seen any aggression. I showed them at our county fair and they would just walk around out of their pen. People love them! I would love to order another few goslings this time around. I'll have to see though.

Here's a picture of the two:

So I say...Get the Geese! How can you resist this little face???

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yeah, well, I didn't. I'm having to look at it as a compromise. The SO says no ducks this year, but I do get to have more chickens than originally discussed. Twenty-three total.

I'm sure I looked and sounded like a 2 yr. old in Atwoods the other day; begging first for the ducks and then the one and only gosling. He's a hard hearted man. :|
In addition, I saw on McMurrays website where they have almost grown mandarin ducks for sale. They are sold out this year, but maybe next? Kinda pricey, but still. Have you seen the mandarins? They are absolutely beautiful!
And in his defense, the hard-hearted SO has offered to pay all the costs of building the coop and run. All I have to pay for is the peripherals; feeders, waterers, etc.

 

[pdsavage]

my hubby almost flipped when i said 25 chickens and ducks,i was like i had more than that before...Guess he don't wanna see me sulk as i allways let him get what he wants.Sides he knows the pros to having chickes and ducks.As long as i don't go over board,wich is easy to do cause there sooooo CUTE....Im thinking of getting a pair not sure yet. wonder if he would go for it....