What geese do I get?

[1953Bella]

HI..
I'm a newby. I raise 5 chickens but am venturing with geese.

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/

This is where I ordered my Embden goslings today. They have a deal where you can order a trio... one male and two female gosling and the shipping is free. They do charge $15.00 for handling. But that's a lot less than 50+ for S/H by another company. They do not have the Pilgrim, which is one of the two breeds I was hoping to order. Because they are quieter than the Chinese. I listened to videos of many geese and the Chinese Geese were unbelievably loud!

The Pilgrim is the only goose that can be sexed right after hatching they can tell by the color of the beak and the color of he feathers. The males are white and the females are multi-colored as adults.
Hope this helps even though your post was last year.
Con

 

[livininbrazil]

HI..
I'm a newby. I raise 5 chickens but am venturing with geese.

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/

This is where I ordered my Embden goslings today. They have a deal where you can order a trio... one male and two female gosling and the shipping is free. They do charge $15.00 for handling. But that's a lot less than 50+ for S/H by another company. They do not have the Pilgrim, which is one of the two breeds I was hoping to order. Because they are quieter than the Chinese. I listened to videos of many geese and the Chinese Geese were unbelievably loud!

The Pilgrim is the only goose that can be sexed right after hatching they can tell by the color of the beak and the color of he feathers. The males are white and the females are multi-colored as adults.
Hope this helps even though your post was last year.
Con

Actually, Con, there are a few breeds that you can tell at hatch....that´s why you were able to order a male and two females of the embdens. White sebastopols, pilgrims, cottonpatch, normandy, Australian settlers, shetland, and of course Embdens can be sexed when tiny by the colouring. Nice, eh?

and the pilgrim females aren´t multi-coloured, they´re just a paler grey with white specs or faces. I have them, they´re delightful birds.

 

[1953Bella]

Thank you! I have much to learn and you just educated me. I appreciate that! :O)

You are absolutely right ...pilgrim females are gray with some white.

Keep it coming... I have so much to learn. You're a doll!

P.S. I guess I can't believe everything I read. Giggles..

 

[CaptainPyrata]

I agree with everyone that researching the breeds you're drawn to is a good start. I'm in Michigan and winters here can be very close to those in Alaska. I never would've expected my sebbies to be so cold tolerant, particularly after everyone was quick to point out that their curly feathers provide less insulation. People were suggesting everything from locking them up on all but the warmest of days to going so far as to provide heat lamps. I ended up doing neither of those things because before long I stopped worrying and realized my geese had it covered.

They rarely go inside, even on the coldest of days. If it's REALLY windy they will hunker down next to some shelter or sometimes begrudgingly go inside. And in the dead of winter on the days when it's negative 20 they would practically beg me to fill their kiddie pool.

If you just take everything you hear with a grain of salt and get an overall picture of the breed you want I'm sure they'll do just fine.

 

[1953Bella]

I live in Southern California. I was off and running when I learned January 2013 was the starting date for the city was allowing residents to have chickens in their backyard. No roosters, but up to 25 chickens allowed. Depending on the size of your yard. We have a double lot. We have a large backyard. 2 Australorps. 2 Ameraucanas, and 1 Plymouth Rock. I bought 6 chicks. Raised them inside with a heat lamp and a nursery box with screened lid my husband made. They grew so fast! And their feet! HUGE! The chicken coop I bought on Amazon.com was too small for them so we put it inside the big walk in aviary we made. As the "girls" got bigger one in particular caught my attention. She was gorgeous! She and her sister are Autrathorps (sp?) Well you must know where I'm going with this. One morning I heard "it"...the sound of a cock-a-doodle-do practicing. Sputtering a little. Then BANG! The loudest Doodle-do you ever wanted to hear. I said.."OH NO!" I raced out there and put her in the tallest cardboard box I could find..her tail feathers were out of this world flamboyant! So off to the Feed store I went where they led me to an area behind the hay bale building, there was an enclosed fenced area where they put roosters now and then. The store owner said a farmer would love to have him as a stud. We built a nice bond and after all I had him since he was two days old! I still cried all the way home... not because he was there but because I was afraid someone was going to eat him. :O(

 

[1953Bella]

I forgot to say Thank you!

 

[1953Bella]

O forgot about my favorite Silkie! Kiwi. She's solid black and what a personality! Just love her! That makes 6!