what breed geese for crafting/eggs?

[chickpeaz]

Hi all --

New to the goose board but not the forum.

I have a contact who is interested in purchasing goose eggs in large quantities for decorating/crafting and asked if I'd be interested in raising them. Not knowing a blessed thing about geese but knowing exactly where to ask, I told him I'd look into it. What breed of goose produces the best eggs for this purpose, so I know where to start researching? Thanks so much!

 

[Cara]

I haven't found any breeds that are particularly productive; it seems that unlike chickens, there are not meat and laying strains.

They lay seasonally and eat so much that I don't know how profitable an enterprise it would be.

 

[CityChicker]

You may find that it is not worth it financially. What breed you go with depends on the size of egg you need, of course. Something like American Buffs might be a good option because they lay a decent sized egg and are somewhat prolific (35-45 eggs a year roughly). Chinese might be a good choice too as they are smaller and more prolific. You could also go with one of the more prolific breeds of ducks that lay large eggs. That would probably be more feasible economically since they are cheaper to feed and lay so many more eggs.

I have thought about selling Goose eggs for decorating, but I can sell hatching eggs and/or goslings for significantly more than blown eggs. Metzer's sells blown/disinfected Goose eggs for crafting at a price that I couldn't even produce the eggs for.