I live in a rather urban setting and am thinking of getting a goose. My husband is getting into the whole "urban farmer" thing and has started us with some chickens. When I expressed a desire to cook a goose he suggested raising one then butchering it. I have always hear geese were loud and mean. This concerns me, I have a 2 year old; and don't want someone complaining about the noise. Any recommendations on kind of goose to get? Are they quieter if there is only one, or do they need the company? Robin
go down aways on this thread and you'll see someone asked this question a while back about having geese in their backyard.. very interesting, and they need companionship for sure.
Robin, Have you cooked goose before? If not, you should get one at the grocery store first. Also, it takes a lot more to pluck a goose than it does a chicken. Our scalder is large enough to cook a two-year-old. The difference between plucking chickens and geese is night and day. It only takes a couple minutes to scald and pluck a chicken. If it's not something you would eat regularly, just buy one at the store. They may seem a bit expensive, but you will likely come out ahead. If I wanted to break even on mine, they would be a lot more than $5.00/lb.
Geese are very impritive so if you hand raise it and are very good to it it will be nicer and quiter than most.
I have hand raised a single goose because 2 geese would be too noisy for my neighbors. When you hand raise them they imprint on you and need to be near you most of the day. They will follow you around and think of you as mom, so I can warn you that it will be very hard to butcher them
