What breed of Geese are these?

[Sissy7]

Hi... this is my first post on BackyardChickens... I LOVE the board and will be checking it often for info on raising chickens/geese.

The reason for my post, I had a guy give me a pair of one year old Geese today, however, He didnt know if they were male/female and what breed they are.. can anyone help me identify the breed/sex? Thanks in advance.

Lisa

 

[banter]

http://www.holderreadfarm.com/photogallery/american_page/america_geese_page.htm

They look like these to me-let us all know

 

[Sissy7]

Thanks for that link!!!

They do look like those.... how do you tell the difference in the male/female? Can you by sound, or color?

 

[banter]

Ladies seem to be more vocal and smaller. If you surf that site it has allot of info!

 

[DuckyBoys]

Hmmm- they look like Pilgrim females to me - take a look

http://www.holderreadfarm.com/photogallery/pilgrim_page/pilgrim_geese_page.htm

 

[Sissy7]

They look like those also....lol. I am confused. I have no clue what they are. I know one of them has a deep honk, all I have heard the other one do is hiss.... so I have no clue.

Thanks for all the help though.

 

[Kev]

They're a mix between Chinese and Toulouse type(which is any other common domestic geese besides Chinese and African basically.. American Buff, Embden etc).

I used to have pure Chinese and Toulouse and mixes of both. I recognize the mixed look plus these show the black tips on the beaks that many of the mixes had.

 

[Sissy7]

Okay, thank you. Now can you tell me how to tell whether they are male/female?

 

[greyfields]

Buff or Toulouse. They are not pilgrims I know that for certain.

 

[Kev]

Quote:
Well.. with mine I could tell by comparing the "thickness" of their heads and necks(males being thicker). I guess the boys look masculine and girls, feminine.

It's hard to describe these mixes as Chinese are slimmer than Toulouse so a "more Toulouse-ish" female could appear to be more masculine compared with a male with more of the Chinese features. Your two may be a good example of this- the one in front appears to have a more Toulouse type neck- fluffier with stronger streaking and the one in back seems to have tighter feathering with the streaking not as prominent. It could be that they are a boy and girl.. or not, due to the mix.

What I did to make sure was to empty the duck pond for a day then fill it up with fresh water the next day.. usually they would be extremely excited, bathing vigorously and usually the boys would try to court(repeated dipping head or beak in the water) and mate(grabbing another bird on the neck and trying to climb on).

With just two it can be tricky if they happen to be of the same sex. If you see both dipping or grabbing the other by neck or between the shoulders, it could be they are both boys although two females will try to mate and even go through the motions but usually it seems to go on for far too long, leaving the girls with ruffled feathers. A mating between a male and female happens pretty quickly, with the female often bathing vigorously right afterwards and the male "celebrating" loudly and proudly.

Back then(20 yrs ago) I was told that you could sex geese by the lobes(folds) on their bellies between the legs. I was told things such as the males have two, girls one.. or vice versa. That never worked.