Sebastopol breeding

[ChickenHwk]

If I breed a blue smooth brested sebastopol gander to a gray curley brested goose what should I get? And if I breed that same gander to one of my curley brested whites what should I get?

What type of feed should I be giving my sebastopols? Right now I am giving them a 16% laying mash with some scratch feed on the side (mainly as a treat).

 

[banter]

I have used the first breeding you mention twice. I got even spit blues and grays and both curly and smooth breasted with no preference to color year one. Year two produced the same with buff also, as my blue gander had buff (to my surprise!) in his pedigree. Gray or blue to white produces splashes and solid grays or blues. These can be color sexed, the solid gander/white goose produce solid daughters and splash sons. The opposite is true also, white gander/solid goose produce solid sons and splash daughters. I have done that breeding 3 times. Below is my newest splash, Georgie Zipper at about 5 months old. His breast feathers have filled in to date. The smooth breasted gander in the background and second pic is Zen, his older brother. I am very fond of the smooth splashes. The white and solid patterns on them are very flashy, and some will show black spots!

 

[pips&peeps]

Quote:
I was just asking somebody about breast feathers like your birds. A couple of my juveniles have it this year. I was assured they would fill in by next year, I am glad to hear your bird did too.

 

[banter]

My colors have taken longer to gain full feather. Most did not get to their full potential until season two.

 

[pips&peeps]

I was surprised to see the "v" neck on my youngest this year. The first three were curled up to high heaven and they are from the same pairing.

 

[DaveK]

pips&peeps :

I was surprised to see the "v" neck on my youngest this year. The first three were curled up to high heaven and they are from the same pairing.

Jean, while adult feather may be a bit different than first year (tends to be soft) if kids entering their first autumn don't have a good pattern IN GENERAL they aren't likely to develop that way. Some birds just don't know that the middle, especially upper middle, of their breast isn't supposed to be relatively smooth. Banter's LGZ is a youngster from this year. Appropriate to look like he did when that picture was taken but he was her last hatch and she says has filled in now. That's what we'd like to see on a curly breasted bird. If you have a mating that produced three with very high curl and then one distinctly lacking that one is not normally expected to catch up. It just has a different pattern and not one that we usually want to see. I know that you are seriously breeding and not just propagating. That fourth baby may well be a pretty bird but for your own purposes maybe not be a useful one. [email protected] www.sebastopls.freeforums.org​

 

[DaveK]

Quote:
I'm adding to my earlier post as I was focused, as usual, on the whites. Especially since I know that Jean is working with curly whites bred to the APA Standard with the goal being truly show quality birds. So my remarks about the V necked sweater look were geared towards the usual development found in any number of white strains. Banter has shared her birds, ideas and experiences here and on two other forums. She has a very interesting flock of mostly colored birds and has been very consistent about stating that for her and her birds feather is not always a big deal the first year. I am not in any way offering to contradict her observations with her own stock. And will say I'd love to see a picture of LGZ as he appears now. He has been sort of a forum favorite with more than a few folks out there.

[email protected] www.sebastopols.freeforums.org

 

[ChickenHwk]

Thanks for the info... As I am a new breeder, I am trying to decide how to split up my small flock of five geese for next years breeding season... I think I have 2 ganders and 3 geese but I am not sure, 4 of the geese are this years hatch. The only one that isn't this years hatch is the smooth brested blue gander, he is 3 years old from holderreads. (which to my suprise is selling their whole flock of sebastopols!)

I must say I love your splash smooth brested gander. I love his powder blue coloration...

Years ago the only color of sebastopol was white. I think that colored sebastopols take a little longer to get their full fluff because white sebastopols were bred to other breeds of geese to get the blues, greys, buffs, ect. Those geese that the sebastopols were bred to, had no curling of the feathers at all. This is how the colored sebbies and the smooth brested sebbies originated. I believe it is just in the ancestry of the colored sebastopols.

Major breeders can correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[vebyrd36]

My sebastopol are solid white with really curly feathers all over them. I got them this past spring from Metzer farms. I received two eggs this fall. They were a unexpected.

 

[DaveK]

Quote:
If you go to www.sebastopols.freeforums.org and do a search for a posting entitled "The Dangers of Feeding Soy" (or something very similar) you'll find a lot of discussion of feeding practices. Just get past the initial hysteria about soy based foods and into the "meat and potatoes" of what different folks feed and why. [email protected]