Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
weighs 18 to 20 pounds. They can start breeding their first year and can produce eggs for
many years. They lay around 35 to 40 eggs a year.
Pilgrim:
The Pilgrim goose breed was developed in Iowa but might have had origins in colo-
nial America. They can be easily sexed from their feather coloring; adult males have mostly
white feathers while females have gray feathers. This trait is called
auto-sexing
. Even when a
day old, the breed can be sexed on color: male goslings are gray-yellow with light bills and
female goslings are olive-gray with dark bills. This is a medium-sized breed, with mature
males weighing 14 to 15 pounds. It is also a calmer breed than most of the goose breeds but
will still sound an alarm at perceived signs of danger. They are good foragers and good moth-
ers. The female lays 35 to 40 eggs each year.
Sebastopol:
This unique breed has blue eyes and curly, twisted feathers that are usually
white. Due to their unique feathers, they should have bathing water available to keep their
feathers clean. Because of their feather pattern, they are more susceptible to chilling. Unlike
other geese, water does not roll off the feathers. They are a gentle breed of goose and are not
aggressive. This makes them more susceptible to predation. Females can lay about 40 eggs a
year and will brood the eggs of other geese. In fact, they may steal eggs from other nests and
roll them into their own. Female goslings have darker down than the males. Ganders weigh
around 14 pounds, and females average about 11 pounds.
Duck and Geese Husbandry
Having a flock of ducks or geese running around the farmstead is truly an amusing and heart-
ening sight. These birds offer many benefits to the small-scale farmer, including meat, weed
control, and — in the case of geese — even a natural alarm system. After the first few weeks
of life, ducks and geese are easy keepers and make great foragers for bugs and weeds.
Ducks are much smaller than most geese. When full grown, a duck can weigh from 4 to 11
pounds and can live as long as 12 years. Geese are large birds that weigh as much as 30
pounds when mature, and they live much longer than ducks — up to 25 years. Geese are loyal
family members and prefer to choose a mate for life. They are protective of their flock, which
makes them great farm watchdogs.
Ducks can provide reliable source of eggs and meat. Like chickens, some breeds have been
bred to be exceptional layers of eggs, while other breeds have been developed to provide sub-
stantial quantities of meat. If you plan to collect eggs from your waterfowl, ducks would be
