When to butcher geese?

[ultasol]

I had a goose for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They were culls from my last clutch of Buff Americans and were not hatched until late June. Both were fine. Do follow the age restrictions the other fellow talked about as otherwise you will end up processing them in molt resulting in lots of pinfeather removal... I think it was 12 weeks then no butchering window until 6 weeks later???

It's in the Holderread book, "The book of geese".

My culls were delicious.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I figured somone would make a joke about smokin' a goose lol!
We had some smoked wild Canadian goose last year for the first time, it was sooo good that we will be adding geese to our farm, maybe this year, probably next (still working on getting the chicken thing down), but it was well worth the "crap" lol.
To answer the person asking about the taste, it really wasn't like duck but I wouldn't call it like beef either. The meat is dark and moist.
So here is my question (echoing the OP) what's the best breed to raise for meat?
I had the one Canadian smoked - there seem ed to be a lot of meat on it. And I cooked one from the grocery store once, I should have just carved off the breast and cooked just that, not much meat on the rest of that one.
Is there a good meat breed that you can keep a pair that will raise their own young year after year?
thanks!

 

[Soccer Mom]

Toulouse and Embden are considered the best meat breeds in geese.

 

[gvntofly05]

Quote:
Is it just me, or does anyone find it hilarious that this little post script is added after a question about when to butcher the little cuties.

Does goose taste like duck? I don't like duck, so I've always wondered if it would be worth it to try goose or if I'd just be disappointed.

Wild goose , slow cooked on a rack in a covered roasting pan , tastes very much like a beef roast .
........ and yeah , I may be just in a sleepy/silly mood , but the mingling of

and

cracks me up .

Yep! I slow cook my wild goose breasts all day in beef broth and other seasonings, slice it up, make a nice thick gravy from the juices and serve it on rolls with mozzarella cheese! Now I wish I wasn't out of goose! O well have to wait till next fall!

 

[ultasol]

Production toulouse, not dewlap toulouse.

I think any of the medium or large breed geese that are of the hardier types (all of the 'Americans'... buff, blue, lavender as well as the embdens, production toulouse, etc) make good meat geese. Embdens might have more meat on them, but I have not raised them.

Leftovers make a delicious pot pie. Nom nom nom.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Quote:
Of these two which are QUIETER? and which are more likely to breed and care for their own young?

 

[Soccer Mom]

I think Toulouse is a good all around goose. Like ultasol said though, you want production and not dewlaped toulouse. Neither one is loud in the same category as the Africans or Chinese (which are hella loud. If sound is an issue avoid those.)

Just a word of warning: goslings are the sweetest babies. It's easy to fall in love with a goose.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

So if a person got two Toulouse geese (male female). How old would they be before they started hatching chicks? How many sets of gosling will they have in a year? How many in a set? How many years would one breeding pair last?

 

[Serina81]

Quote:
What's the difference between buying one from the supermarket and eating the one you raised yourself? The ones at the supermarket (assuming you could find a goose there) were once alive and at a farm too. It's not like they magically appear at the store lol!

Is there a market for selling goose meat? Anyone ever heard of eating cotton patch geese and if so, do they have they same butchering date as the other geese?

 

[Soccer Mom]

Quote:
Toulouse mature a bit more slowly and often will not breed or have fertile eggs the first year--but some do. They will have one set of goslings per year. She'll gather up her clutch of about 6-8 eggs and hatch them. Geese are excellent parents. Not sure how long lived Toulouse are. If you are thinking about geese, I highly recommend Holderread's book. You can find it on their website.