The African and Chinese goose thread!!

[MeganB]

Nathan the balls were close in size but some were small. From what I understand the ganders get the knob on the head well my goose did. He would also ride my female ducks

 

[MeganB]

It sounds like your gander was a goose! Did they vary in size or were they all the same? It was probably developing yolks.

My gander Yankee had a knob on his head from my understanding only males get that??? And I have butchered hens and ducks. He is my first male to ever butcher besides roosters and even then not one of my poultry had that. Also the gooses heart was in the center of the breast bone not farther up in the body also the gizzard was huge at least 4 inches wide. My goose was born 25 weeks ago so don't know if that has an effect on anything

 

[Goosegrrl]

It sounds like your gander was a goose! Did they vary in size or were they all the same? It was probably developing yolks.

Yeah... sounds like your goose got cooked instead of a gander.
Orange balls of varying sizes all grouped together is definitely the ovary/developing eggs.

In african and chinese geese both sexes get knobs... the gander's is just bigger

 

[MeganB]

Yeah... sounds like your goose got cooked instead of a gander. 

Orange balls of varying sizes all grouped together is definitely the ovary/developing eggs.  

In african and chinese geese both sexes get knobs... the gander's is just bigger 

Could you tell me why my ducks never got those then because they are the same age as Yankee. They are 25 weeks old. And I have seen Yankee ride the female ducks. I bought my ducks sexed so I bought females and not drakes. The two geese I bought only came as straight run. So far I butchered 3 ducks and haven't seen one of them have those orange balls.

 

[Goosegrrl]

Could you tell me why my ducks never got those then because they are the same age as Yankee. They are 25 weeks old. And I have seen Yankee ride the female ducks. I bought my ducks sexed so I bought females and not drakes. The two geese I bought only came as straight run. So far I butchered 3 ducks and haven't seen one of them have those orange balls.

Not sure what age you butchered your ducks at, if they weren't mature they wouldn't have developed the yolks in the ovary yet. Fowl of different breeds and types mature at different rates.
As far as the riding behavior... sometimes a female will ride another female when establishing dominance.

 

[MeganB]

Not sure what age you butchered your ducks at, if they weren't mature they wouldn't have developed the yolks in the ovary yet. Fowl of different breeds and types mature at different rates.

As far as the riding behavior... sometimes a female will ride another female when establishing dominance. 

I butchered today. They turned 25 weeks today. They were my fair project but because of the Avian Flu.. Well you know the story. But anyways I had two black Swedish and two Welsh Harlequin Ducks. Then I had two African Geese. I have been butchering for three years now and have never seen that. This is my first year however to kill ducks and geese so that's why I am asking all these questions. Thank you all for your help

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I have to agree, those were developing yolks. Geese and gander both will establish dominance by riding, they actually pin other birds down. Pinning is how we handle a goose with aggressive problems also, its their natural way of expressing who is the flock master.
The ducks were just not at point of lay yet, I have processed hundreds of ducks as well as drakes and have only found yolks in 2 birds.

 

[Goosegrrl]

My babies are still growing. They hardly look like babies anymore, but they still peep at me when I talk to them... which makes me happy.

I'm positive that I have a trio now.

The larger of the two youngest is now out and out the largest of the three. Broader, taller, and when their heads are all down in the feed bowl together his is about double the thickness of the other two. He has more of a tendency to walk out front of the other two a bit, and his head is generally stretched out more.

Since they are fully feathered out now, not a speck of the fuzzies anywhere, and 8-9 weeks old, I have just cut the protein in their feed back to 20% protein.
It was previously at 22-23%, which is higher than recommended, but they haven't been free fed. They have a rationed fermented feed that is a mix of crumbles, pellets, and seed/scratch, and are on very nice grass lawn/pasture(they roam about a 1/2 acre right now, they could go further but don't), which they seem to eat a TON of, and offsets the higher protein feed.
I have watched for angel wing and seen no signs, so I feel pretty good about their diet.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My babies are still growing. They hardly look like babies anymore, but they still peep at me when I talk to them... which makes me happy.

I'm positive that I have a trio now.

The larger of the two youngest is now out and out the largest of the three. Broader, taller, and when their heads are all down in the feed bowl together his is about double the thickness of the other two. He has more of a tendency to walk out front of the other two a bit, and his head is generally stretched out more.

Since they are fully feathered out now, not a speck of the fuzzies anywhere, and 8-9 weeks old, I have just cut the protein in their feed back to 20% protein.
It was previously at 22-23%, which is higher than recommended, but they haven't been free fed. They have a rationed fermented feed that is a mix of crumbles, pellets, and seed/scratch, and are on very nice grass lawn/pasture(they roam about a 1/2 acre right now, they could go further but don't), which they seem to eat a TON of, and offsets the higher protein feed.
I have watched for angel wing and seen no signs, so I feel pretty good about their diet.

Sounds like they are doing real good on their ff i also feed ff and have never had angel wing and mine forage too i think that is the key feeding the higher protein 20% andgetting the extra grass etc to off set it or enhance the nutrients. Congrats on having a trio.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My babies are still growing. They hardly look like babies anymore, but they still peep at me when I talk to them... which makes me happy.

I'm positive that I have a trio now.

The larger of the two youngest is now out and out the largest of the three. Broader, taller, and when their heads are all down in the feed bowl together his is about double the thickness of the other two. He has more of a tendency to walk out front of the other two a bit, and his head is generally stretched out more.

Since they are fully feathered out now, not a speck of the fuzzies anywhere, and 8-9 weeks old, I have just cut the protein in their feed back to 20% protein.
It was previously at 22-23%, which is higher than recommended, but they haven't been free fed. They have a rationed fermented feed that is a mix of crumbles, pellets, and seed/scratch, and are on very nice grass lawn/pasture(they roam about a 1/2 acre right now, they could go further but don't), which they seem to eat a TON of, and offsets the higher protein feed.
I have watched for angel wing and seen no signs, so I feel pretty good about their diet.

How wonderful! Trios work out really well. I think you are doing all the right things for them. Angel wing is pretty rare here, I have had 1 gosling in 3 years with it. My flock of 10 pretty well roam the whole 5 acres during the day in a regular pattern. seems like certain times of day chosen grazing spots are tastier!