What do I have here

[CJDucklings]

Hello! This is my first post, excited to be here. I purchased two geese a month ago. I was told they were Pilgrims with possibly some Emden mixed in. I was told the white one is the male and the Buff is a female. Is the female even a Pilgrim though? Will she darken? They were hatched in June. I’m actually hoping she really is a Buff because I think the Buff coloring is so stunning and I’m hoping she doesn’t darken and would like to know what y’all think so I can mentally prepare myself if she does darken. Is it possible that she looks like a Buff but could be a Pilgrim Emden mix? She really looks like just a straight Buff to me but I’m new to geese. What do you think I have here? Thanks

 

[Berd Man]

Welcome to the forums!

I suspect that neither of them are pilgrim geese. The white one looks to be an Emden mix, the other looks like an American Buff. The plumage on the buff likely won’t darken, if anything it will get sun bleached and be lighter.

I like making mixed geese. Last year I bred embden males to buff females. The males produced were spotted and very interesting, the females were almost white but with some grey leakage on the wings where yours has it also. Not saying that’s the exact mix but often mixed embdens appear to have more leakage.

I think Emden geese will produce buff goslings if they’ve been bred to a buff male. In that case, all buff offspring would be females.

 

[CJDucklings]

Welcome to the forums!

I suspect that neither of them are pilgrim geese. The white one looks to be an Emden mix, the other looks like an American Buff. The plumage on the buff likely won’t darken, if anything it will get sun bleached and be lighter.

I like making mixed geese. Last year I bred embden males to buff females. The males produced were spotted and very interesting, the females were almost white but with some grey leakage on the wings where yours has it also. Not saying that’s the exact mix but often mixed embdens appear to have more leakage.

I think Emden geese will produce buff goslings if they’ve been bred to a buff male. In that case, all buff offspring would be females.

Thank you! I think I will have to read that 6 more times to make sense in my thick skull. Goose math is confusing! I just asked the woman I got them from if it’s ok to breed them because she indicated they may be from the same hatching. She said they have different mothers but she doesn’t know about who the male was for sure and indicated that if they have the same father they are still ok to breed? Is that correct? Do you think the white one is a male or female? It has two of the fatty sacks and the female only has one so I was wondering if that is a sex indicator as well?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Thank you! I think I will have to read that 6 more times to make sense in my thick skull. Goose math is confusing! I just asked the woman I got them from if it’s ok to breed them because she indicated they may be from the same hatching. She said they have different mothers but she doesn’t know about who the male was for sure and indicated that if they have the same father they are still ok to breed? Is that correct? Do you think the white one is a male or female? It has two of the fatty sacks and the female only has one so I was wondering if that is a sex indicator as well?

yes. after a while you might need some new genes, but birds are a bit different than mammals, and can withstand a few generations of inbreeding before they show obvious issues.

 

[Berd Man]

Thank you! I think I will have to read that 6 more times to make sense in my thick skull. Goose math is confusing! I just asked the woman I got them from if it’s ok to breed them because she indicated they may be from the same hatching. She said they have different mothers but she doesn’t know about who the male was for sure and indicated that if they have the same father they are still ok to breed? Is that correct? Do you think the white one is a male or female? It has two of the fatty sacks and the female only has one so I was wondering if that is a sex indicator as well?

I cannot tell the sex of either goose with absolute certainty from the photos, but I think you may have two females. The fat lobes are present on ganders and geese alike and can’t solely be used to determine the sex of geese. If they are easy to catch and handle you could vent sex them. Most of the time ganders have a more erect posture, head angled up high, a higher pitched vocalization. Geese will typically have a more horizontal posture, smaller head, and the vocalizations are often shorter grunts (some of mine almost sound like a pig haha). This isn’t a sure way to identify sex but may help.

There’s always exceptions, I have an African goose that carried herself like a gander. She’s the matriarch of the gaggle and even mounts lesser geese and one time my kids in the lake

I believe that birds will sometimes mate within family units even in the wild. If it occurs for many generations you could see some poor traits emerge, but for a generation or two you probably would be fine. I have bred sibling geese together and bred back to parents… they won’t turn out like “hills have eyes” geese.