I’ve haven’t seen Tula here in the U.S. it would be an interesting breed to have, though I have some mixed feelings over them.
I’ve heard they’re fairly gentle throughout the year and like other geese only become aggressive during winter breeding season and that unlike other breeds they tend to wrestle more and focus less on inflicting wounds through biting, hence why they’re preferred in the midwinter goose fighting traditions in Russia.
Animal fighting obviously is bad but if they’re selectively breeding geese that don’t inflict injuries on each other my thought was, if there’s no harm then where’s the harm.
But then I heard that Tula are selectively bred to have stronger flight muscles so that they can hit their opponent harder and there’s where I have a problem. Just because there’s no visual blood because they’re not ripping at each other doesn’t mean they aren’t dying of internal bleeding and broken bones later.
One of the worst injuries I’ve had from a gander is being wing beaten in the back of the knee once, and he wasn’t selectively bred for optimum hit force. I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of that with a Tula or see another goose on the wrong side of that.
If I had the time and means I’d like to personally try breeding some with less focus on the fighting abilities and more on their alleged gentle nature the rest of the year because they’re an interesting breed regardless and it’s a shame they’re so rare.
