Toulouse Geese Thread

[pete55]

Thank you all

Sorry to hear about your PC Aoxa but so typical of inquisitive geese and I had to smile at your story

Our goal for next year is to introduce our Grey bloodline into the Buffs with the long term goal of producing Buffs which are comparable to our Greys for health, type, size and vigour. Hopefully by breeding some young Buff ganders we can mate them to buff and back to grey females to keep improving them. Here's some pics of our adults and the large grey gander is the type we're breeding for;

 

[aoxa]

Thank you all

Sorry to hear about your PC Aoxa but so typical of inquisitive geese and I had to smile at your story

Our goal for next year is to introduce our Grey bloodline into the Buffs with the long term goal of producing Buffs which are comparable to our Greys for health, type, size and vigour.  Hopefully by breeding some young Buff ganders we can mate them to buff and back to grey females to keep improving them. Here's some pics of our adults and the large grey gander is the type we're breeding for;

I just love their obese look. Is that weird? That's what drew us to them.

Yes... my poor poor PC. Those girls are on time out

I want to keep the buff line going, so we have been in search of a buff gander. We have found one - and hopefully it works out. A friend is going to Good Shepard ranch to look at him in a couple of weeks. If he is of good quality, he will bring him back into Canada and we will then meat him in Woodstock Ontario (18 hours away). We are serious about the colour. There is a really good line of greys here, but I want the buffs. Something is very appealing about being the only ones in my area that has them. I can't wait to see what they look like at maturity, but the mothers were very nice. I have never laid eyes on the father, who was extremely old and a resident of the NS zoo

Too bad they don't accept geese into the BYC calendar. That one with the garden in back is GORGEOUS. I love that photo.

Also, how old is your buff above? It's a goose, correct?

 

[pete55]

The Buffs are 3 years old and these will be mated to Grey ganders split for Buff next Spring. Buff ganders are impossible to find here in the UK so its a case of running both the Grey and Buff lines together to produce the quality we're hoping for.

As its a sex-linked recessive gene it makes the males harder to breed for, so if you've a chance of a good Buff male then I'd tell you to go for it, you never know if the chance will come up again. Once you've a Buff gander then breeding for Buffs in good numbers becomes a realistic possibility

 

[Iain Utah]

Beautiful pics!!

 

[pete55]

Thanks -how's your's doing?

 

[aoxa]

The Buffs are 3 years old and these will be mated to Grey ganders split for Buff next Spring.  Buff ganders are impossible to find here in the UK so its a case of running both the Grey and Buff lines together to produce the quality we're hoping for.

As its a sex-linked recessive gene it makes the males harder to breed for, so if you've a chance of a good Buff male then I'd tell you to go for it, you never know if the chance will come up again.  Once you've a Buff gander then breeding for Buffs in good numbers becomes a realistic possibility

The Buffs are 3 years old and these will be mated to Grey ganders split for Buff next Spring.  Buff ganders are impossible to find here in the UK so its a case of running both the Grey and Buff lines together to produce the quality we're hoping for.

As its a sex-linked recessive gene it makes the males harder to breed for, so if you've a chance of a good Buff male then I'd tell you to go for it, you never know if the chance will come up again.  Once you've a Buff gander then breeding for Buffs in good numbers becomes a realistic possibility

Here is a picture I found from the breeder he is going to see with the one buff gander for sale. We aren't even paying our friend for him. All we have to do is give him one in return once our girls are of age and we hatch some out.

I wish they had more pictures on their site. I don't even know how old they are above, or if they are male or female.

So the ganders born that are split for buff can be bred to the buff girls and produce more buffs, as well as greys? Could you explain that to me, because if it doesn't pan out, we COULD get a gander split for buff.

 

[pete55]

Hi Aoxa - here's an extract from an article that I prepared for the Sebastopol Geese Lovers Forum with a chart you can refer to - hope it helps you

Pete

In Geese the sex chromosomes can actually influence the phenotype of the bird as some of the genes for colour and pattern are sex-linked. For example the gene responsible for Buff is carried on the male chromosome only. To further complicate matters, in birds the sex chromosomes act differently than in most other mammals including ourselves.

In humans the sex of a child is determined by the father’s sperm. The genetic code being XY which means there are either X sperm or Y sperm. In females the genetic code is XX which means there are only X eggs. Therefore in an X egg combines with an X sperm then the code will be XX meaning a female. If another X egg combines with a Y sperm then the code will be XY – a male.

In birds the sex chromosomes are coded Z and W but act in an opposite manner to ourselves. In a Gander their genetic code for sex is ZZ and in a Goose their code is ZW. So in the case of our geese it is the female which selects the sex of the offspring. Her eggs are either Z or W in equal ratios. The male can only produce Z sperm. So if the Z sperm fertilises a Z egg then a male will result and if the Z sperm fertilises a W egg then a female will result.The Buff gene is a recessive sex linked genes. This means that it is carried on the Z sex chromosome. In order to show visually all the bird’s Z chromosomes must carry a recessive form of this gene. So in the case of a female whose genotype for sex is ZW then only one recessive gene that is linked to the Z chromosome is required for the effect to show visually. In the case of a male with two Z chromosomes then both genes must carry the recessive gene for the effect to show visually. If only one of the Z chromosomes carries a recessive gene then the male will carry (or be ‘split’ for) the recessive gene in its genotype but its phenotype remains the same. Using the Buff gene (G) as an example the genotype can be written and its phenotype interpreted.

Z,Z, G, G (normal male) – visually Grey
Z, Z, G, g (male split for buff) – visual grey but carries the recessive buff gene (g).
Z, Z, g, g (buff male) – visually buff as both Z chromosomes have the recessive gene (g, g).
Z, W, G (normal female) – visually grey.
Z, W, g (buff female) – visual buff as the only Z chromosome has the recessive gene (g).

 

[Iain Utah]

My guys are great, thanks! After you dropped off the hatching thread this spring, I got eggs for dewlaps from a lady in Cali. Hatched out 1 buff and 4 greys. Then bought a trio of month old buff goslings from lady that arrived in very poor condition. Did some investigating into her operation and wound up rescuing 80+ dewlaps in mid-July off of her property. Now I have 6 grey juveniles, three of which are developing great, 6 buff juveniles, only 1-2 are purebred though, and (at least) 1 adult grey pair and 2 adult buff male/grey girl pairs. I'm swimming in dewlaps over here.

 

[pete55]

Oh having lots of Dewlaps is never a bad thing and Im pleased to hear about your sucesses

 

[Iain Utah]

Thanks!

If you have the time, I'd love to bombard you with pics of them to get your expert opinion on quality for potential breeding, as well as other tips for successful management of the flock (or more precisely gaggle) as we enter breeding season.