_ PART II. GEESE
CHAPTER XI. Management of Breeding Geese
Range for Breeders. Since grass or other vegetation, when plentiful, will furnish practically the entire living both for breeding and growing geese, it is by all means desirable to have suitable range for the breeding stock. Aside from economy of production range is desirable from the fact that the breeders keep in better condition and better results in breeding and fertility are obtained. The range for breeding geese should therefore consist of grass land or pasture. Often rather low wet land can be used for this purpose, particularly if some higher land is also available to provide a more favorable kind of grass. Often geese can be ranged on the same pasture with horses or cattle. Later in the season after the harvest, both breeding and growing geese can be given the range of the stubble fields to good advantage as they will glean most of the shelled grain. The entire flock of breeders is generally allowed to run together but the flock may be divided if desired, or each mating may be kept in a colony by itself if the fighting of the ganders proves troublesome.
Number of Geese to the Acre. The number of geese which can be kept or run to the acre depends of course upon the nature of the land available for the purpose. The better the pasture and therefore the more green feed available throughout the summer and fall, the more geese can be run. In general, the practice is to run from 4 to 25 geese to an acre; ten is a fair average under normal conditions.
Water for Breeding Geese. While water to which the geese can have access for swimming is not absolutely essential for their well being, they like it and it is well to provide water if possible especially during the breeding season. It not only takes care of the problem of supplying drinking water, but in the opinion of many goose raisers, increases the fertility of the eggs laid. A natural water supply such as a stream or pond in the pasture is therefore desirable, but if none is available an artificial pond or tank can be furnished to good advantage.
Distinguishing the Sex. It is difficult to distinguish the sex of geese. It is, of course, necessary to know the sex so as to provide the proper number of ganders and so as to know what birds to pen together in making a mating. Once the sex of a bird is determined it is well for the novice to mark it by means of a suitable leg band so that its sex can be easily distinguished in the future.
It is more difficult to distinguish the sex of young than of old geese. The gander is generally slightly larger and coarser than the goose, with a longer, thicker neck and larger head. The gander also has a shriller cry than the goose whose cry consists of a harsher sound. Some goose raisers claim that they can distinguish the sex of mature geese by the body shape, the underline of the body of the gander from the tail to the point where the legs join the body being nearly straight, while in the goose this line tends to round out with the fuller development of the abdomen. This difference is more marked during the laying season than at other times. Considerable experience is necessary in order to distinguish sex by any of the means described and the really sure way is by an examination of the sexual organs or by observing the actions of the geese when mating.
Upon examination the sphincter muscle which closes the anus of the female when stretched will be found to have a folded appearance. If the gander is placed upon his back and pressure applied around the anus, the penis will protrude. This test is more easily made on a mature than on an immature gander and is also easier to make during warm than during cold weather.
Purchase of Breeding Stock. Geese when mated usually stay mated permanently. Matings are not, therefore, changed from year to year as a rule so long as they continue to give satisfactory results. If it becomes necessary to make new matings or to break up old matings, this should be done in the fall, so that the birds will be thoroughly used to the new order of things by the time the breeding season arrives, and the results in eggs laid and young stock grown will not, therefore, be adversely affected. For this reason, any breeding stock purchased should be secured in the fall rather than to wait until just before the breeding season opens. As a rule, also, a better selection of breeding stock to choose from is available to the purchaser in the fall.
Time of Laying. Geese start laying in the early spring and continue to lay throughout the spring. With special attention given to the feeding, they should begin in the northeastern part of the United States about February 1 and should continue to lay until about June 1 when geese of the heavier breeds such as the Toulouse, African and Embden will generally be pretty well through. Some individuals will lay later than this and the Chinese geese also have a rather longer laying season extending further into the summer. The length of the laying season is also affected by whether the geese are broken up when they become broody or whether they are allowed to sit. The latter practice, of course, stops the layings. It must be remembered that the Canadian and Egyptian as a rule lay only a single small setting of eggs during the season.
As a rule geese lay during the night or the forenoon. The frequency of laying varies, some geese laying every other day while others lay more or less often.
Housing. Geese withstand the weather very well and do not need much in the way of houses or shelter except during winter and during severe storms. In the North it is the usual practice and good practice to provide shelter for the geese, which may take the form of a poultry house, or of any shed or barn available for the purpose. A shed with openings on the south side makes an ideal goose shelter or house. Most breeders in the South who give their flocks good attention also provide shelter for them during the winter although geese are also successfully kept in that section without shelter.
The houses provided for the breeders must be kept clean and as dry as possible. The best way to do this is to bed them liberally with straw, shavings or some similar material, especially during the winter. As the bedding becomes soiled, more should be added and the house should be cleaned out from time to time and fresh litter put in.
No equipment for the houses is necessary. The geese will lay their eggs in nests which they make on the floor and if plenty of clean bedding is provided, the eggs will not get badly soiled. Large boxes, barrels, or similar shelter provided with an abundance of nesting material may be scattered about the range to provide places in which the geese may make their nests.
Yards. Usually no yards are provided for geese as they are allowed the range of a pasture or are allowed to roam at liberty about the farm. Any ordinary woven wire stock fence such as might be used to fence a pasture will serve to keep the geese confined as well as the other stock. If for any reason it is desired to confine geese to a yard, the effort should be made to provide yard enough so that the geese will have a constant supply of green feed. In a small yard this is impossible. A 2-1/2 or 3 foot fence is high enough to confine any of the common breeds of geese and will also serve for Canadian and Egyptian geese if they have been pinioned which should always be done.
Feeding the Breeding Geese. While the flock of geese may be allowed to pick most of their living from a good grass range during the summer and fall, it is necessary to feed them during the winter. In fact during the summer it may be necessary to feed them lightly on grain or wet mash if the pasture gets short. The quantity of feed necessary for this purpose depends upon the condition of the pasture and must be judged by the condition of the birds.
During the winter, they must be fed regularly. The feed given them should consist of both grain and some form of roughage. It is necessary to be careful not to overfeed so that the geese will become too fat, for while they should be in good condition of flesh at the beginning of the breeding season, if they are too fat, poor fertility and poor hatches will result.
Feed. Oats makes the best feed for breeding geese as it is not too fattening. Corn, wheat or barley fed alone is likely to prove too fattening but a limited quantity should be fed for variety. The grain should be fed twice a day throughout the winter and should be given rather sparingly, depending on roughage to make up the bulk of the feed. Vegetables, clover or alfalfa hay, chopped corn stover or silage make good roughage for this purpose. Corn silage is a fine feed if it is not moldy and does not contain so much corn as to be too fattening.
About three weeks or a month before it is desired to have the geese commence laying, which should be at such a time that the first goslings hatched will have good grass pasture, a mash should be added to the feed to stimulate egg production. This mash is generally fed in the morning with the vegetables or roughage and may consist of three parts bran or shorts, one part corn meal and one-fourth part meat scrap. If available buttermilk or skim milk can be used to mix the mash and replace the meat scrap. Another mash for this purpose consists of corn meal one-fourth part, bran two parts, and ground oats one part, mixed up with skim milk or buttermilk.
Grit and oyster shell should be kept where the geese can help themselves particularly during the laying season. Drinking water must be available at all times and if a natural supply is not available, must be given in drinking fountains or dishes which should be so arranged that the geese cannot get their feet into the water. When they can get into the drinking water, they will quickly get it into a filthy condition.
When the geese are running in a field with horses or cattle a small enclosure should be fenced in to which the geese can gain access by means of suitable openings but which will keep the other stock out. In this should be placed the drinking fountain for the geese and in this enclosure the geese should be fed. Otherwise the cattle or horses will get most of the feed intended for the geese and in addition, some of the geese may be stepped on or kicked and injured when the stock crowds around at feeding time. _