I raise and sell Christmas goose. I agree you need two geese, so you can have one for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas. Advantages of geese over turkey:
a) Geese will thrive on grass alone, only need feed the first 6 weeks and the last 2-3 depending on how much 'fattening up' you want to do.
b) Geese can generally be let wander your grounds, mowing your grass for you, and are easily trained to "go to bed" someone secure at night.
c) Our ancestors had it correct, goose is far tastier than turkey. It's a dark meat, almost like a beefy duck. The culinary potential is endless. We usually confit the legs, stuff the neck like a sausage (and simmer it in goose fat and homemade lard) and then roast the main carcass. They have actual flavor, rather than turkey which just tastes like the gravy you put on it.
d) Geese are freakin' awesome! We keep 18 for breeding and have somewhere between 25 and 40 in the growing pen right now. As soon as they're big enough to go off grain, they'll just be turned out on pasture like the other livestock. They can also be used to graze your aftermath from your vegetable garden or other crops.
Of all the animals at Greyfields, geese are my absolute dearest and favorite. They entertain me endlessly, are comical and have huge personalities.
Drawbacks of Geese:
e) If you want a pristine lawn, the geese will crap a lot on it while helping you mow. If you have a huge lawn you may hardly notice it, though.
f) You can only really get them in Winter/Spring, so you are stuck raising the animal until late November. It's a long time for the payoff and potential for losing an animal to predators.
g) I still find it hard to slaughter and sell them. Most imprint on me and they're more like dogs than livestock. They follow me around, are curious and are always into something. You might get attached, making the whole experience sour.
h) Turkeys can be brough in as late as August and still be big enough for Thanksgiving. So, it's a shorter 'crop' to grow (but you have to feed 100% grain).
