Raising Geese: The Basics

Image Gallery Whether you want to begin your journey to a more self-reliant life in the garden, in the kitchen, in the chicken coop or even in the wild, “Natural Living” has advice and inspiration to help you get started successfully. COVER: GAIA/OCTOPUS

The following is an excerpt from Natural Living: The 21st-Century Guide to a Self-Sufficient Lifestyle by Liz Wright (GAIA/Octopus, 2010). From teaching you how to preserve your garden harvests to how to cut your energy consumption, Natural Living is a terrific resource for families and individuals looking to move toward a more gentle, green and self-sufficient way of life. This excerpt is from Chapter 4, “Raising Your Own.” 

Geese have been domesticated and bred, mainly for meat, for generations, but have resolutely resisted efforts to be kept intensively. A goose’s natural inclination to utilize good grass and to forage makes it a very useful bird.

These hardy birds have been useful to humans for many years, from guard birds to the modern hybrids for the table. For a small-scale farmer or self-supporter, geese do best if they can forage on good grass. They are ideal birds for an orchard, clearing up windfalls and getting much of their nutrition from good-quality grass in summer and early fall.

Choosing a Breed

Although they are kept primarily for the table, some people like to use the birds as guard geese — Chinese geese in particular are suitable for this. In the past, their feathers were used for writing quills and down quilts, and the birds were also a source of grease and fat.

Goose breeds are divided into light, medium, and heavy.

The light Chinese goose originated from the Asiatic Swan goose. It is incredibly noisy, making it a superb guard goose. It’s the best layer, producing up to 80 eggs a year.

Originating in Germany, the heavy Embden is a large, hardy white goose, with a gander weighing in at up to 34 pounds. Their size makes them good table birds, and they produce 20 to 25 eggs a year. They can be protective and should not be kept if you have small children or pets.

The Roman and Roman Tufted, both light breeds, are compact, pure white geese. They are great for beginners, being kind, good all-rounders and easy breeders. They lay 30 to 60 eggs per season, and one gander can breed up to five geese.

The Pilgrim and West of England, both auto-sexing breeds (the sexes are different colors), are good examples of breeds that were developed by small farmers to graze rough ground while producing good carcasses. The American Buff is a large breed that was developed to be a heavy table bird and will put on weight with good grazing.