I'd also love to hear about them. What is the best breed that makes the sweetest pets? I have only had one goose, but I would love to maybe get 3-4 geese one day. They seem like real characters!!

Geese are wonderful! Pilgrims get my vote as the sweetest, Genny, closely followed by American Buffs.

Sheila, my geese are doing just fine. I have sold this year's mutts (sired by that horrible, rotten gander) but the new owner can't take them for another couple of weeks.

My first Pilgrim, Willow, hatched by a broody on Mother's Day, 2005, is as sweet as always. My new Pilgrim pair are doing well and the goose, Elsie, copies everything Willow does. Ben, the young gander, is quiet and so far shows no signs of aggression.

There is not a whole lot new with them, except that they have recently become very naughty, resisting going into their house at night and refusing our efforts to fatten them on the cracked corn that the new owner dropped off for their benefit. They actually went on a two-day hunger strike rather than eat it! They won and now are happily chowing down their usual mixture of organic grower mash and scratch.

I'd post some pictures, but I haven't figured out how yet. My son is designing a website for me, so when we get it launched I will post a link.

Sheila, how are your chickens doing? Did you get things sorted out so that your nice roo doesn't get frostbitten this winter? He really is gorgeous!

BTW, how did the art show go?

I have a couple pairs of American Buffs which I like real well, sold the Pilgrims; matter of fact I would like to sell these Buffs too, like, $30 for the 2 pair if any one is interested. Gonna get some Egyptian geese.

Epilogue (and then there were eight, 10/19

ArenÂt geese incredible? Maggie, your observations of Miss Willow are amazing. Dave Holderread shared that a philosopher once said, Âif one wants to study humans there are 2 options, they can either study geese, or they can study humans! (Tried to verify but couldnÂt find a reference for it).

Yep! Our geese are/were certainly individuals too! Lottie was the explorer, first to get into everything, you can be sure! Luke remains our mechanical engineer, compelled to unknot, tensile test, and disassemble everything from the garden hose to our staked tomato plants.

After recovering from the vicious dog attack, insecure and bereft of companions, our remaining two geese became extremely clingy. (Lovelable, but we're beginning to suspect they are mixed with a lot more noisy Brown Chinese than weÂd ordered from the hatchery!). They would cry out whenever we were in view and following us around like puppies. Heartbreaking and a bit of a nuisance, it was clear they needed company. Try transplanting fruit trees or chopping kindling with two geese tugging at your shoe laces.

Enter, New Toulouse:

The crowded poultry paddock at the farm from which we bought our new geese was well, suffice to say, not as opulent as our grassy pens. There were only 3 youngÂens to choose from - 2 Toulose, & 1 Embden. Leery of the latter, we left ole blue eyes behind. At 4 months, they seemed so puny, no bigger than adult Pekins, and there voices barely but a twitter. It was late afternoon when we brought them to their new home.

Upon initial introduction (between a fence) there was instant interest in the new arrivals on behalf of our young Africans. When placed face to face however, our Africans react very agitated. Luke exhibited a strange display of head bobbing weÂd not seen before. Both he and the female engaged in a good deal of neck pinching and herding or pushing around of the intruders. This was followed by several hasty baths (to point out who ruled the kiddy pool). Several times, interspersed among the commotion, our frantic Africans would return to where we stood, face us and loudly pour out their complaints "but mom, they smell funny!Âbut mom, they look weird!" This went on for about 45 mins.

Meanwhile the young Tolouse, accustomed to being picked on, and probably having never before seen a blade of green grass, simply wanted to try grazing. We realize there was a lot of posturing and dominance being played out, but honestly, I could swear that our Africans behaved EXACTLY like two spoiled little rich kids suddenly expected to share their play room with a couple of third world refugees. We kept them separated this night.

Day 1, neck pinching commenced again upon reintroduction the following morning, but tapered off after about 1 or 2 minutes and discontinued. By evening Luke followed the newcomers everywhere and cried out when any member of the flock escaped his view. Was he guarding his first mate or taking on two more? The Tolouse were terrified of us, we had to corner and catch them to put them up at night.

Day 2, Both Africans by now seemed strangely protective of the new birds. We wondered if they had the notion that the young Toulouse are their adopted offspring. They paid less attention to us altogether and didnÂt visit with us unless we crouched down and specifically called them over.

Day 3, We accidentally opened the Africans crate first that morning. Both geese barreled out past us toward the smaller Tolouse crate and stood in front of it honking madly until we opened it. By evening we felt safe allowing them to share the same crate at night for the first time. The Tolouse were a bit more comfortable with our presence.

Day 4. Well there you have it! All of the birds have adjusted nicely. The Africans treat us like a wet food stamp and the Tolouse are learning the nightly round up song and respond even better than their counterparts about clamoring into the sleeping crate.

WeÂve learned that there is some decadence to hand raised birds over flock raised. Perhaps itÂs because such alien creatures trust enough to allow we humans a glimpse into the real depth of character they possess. The price, of course, is the responsibility over trust and betrayal we bequeath from the act of hand raising, but itÂs an awesome friendship when it happens.

As for our Africans, weÂll miss the close rapport we developed during their infancy and thru their crisis, but ultimately weÂre glad we returned them to birdland.

Thanks for the pictures and the update Maggie! here is your gorgeous Willow for all to see: (can I also mention she looks super sweet!).

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Genny what breed is your goose?

Fancy that sounds like a great deal, wish you lived closer!

lfrg, cute story, so glad your geese have a secure and happy flock! sounds like that was a pretty easy transition eh?

Thanks everyone for sharing, I love hearing your stories and updates :)

-Sheila

Sheila, thanks for posting the pictures of Willow for me. The geese in the bakground of the larger picture are my American Buff (she got shortchanged on a name and remains simply "Buff") and the tail end of "that gander" that gave us so much trouble last mating seson. We still have Buff and will be keeping her; she is a very nice goose too. I'll give her Pilgrim eggs when she goes broody in the spring.

I like the auto-sexing quality of the Pilgrims and I love the friendly nature of the females. Even though they are not related, Willow and Elsie are very much alike -- although Elsie is still a bit shy. I let Willow and Buff raise her and although she will take a dandelion leaf from my hand and even nibble my fingers if Willow will let her, I think this is mainly because she sees Willow doing these things. Willow, of course, is my spoiled darling.

LFRJ, thanks for the account of your introduction of the new geese. Your new Toulouse must be very happy. I can't imagine raising geese without them being able to graze. I'm so glad it all worked out. Your Africans naturally had to set some guidelines for the newcomers, but having done that there should be no more problems if the new ones are female. I can't speak of ganderly competition during breeding season because I have only had one mature gander at a time. I think that three of our mutts are ganders, but they are still young and tolerant of each other. And pretty soon the only gander will be Ben, our Pilgrim.

Fancifowl, why did you sell your Pilgrims? Was it just to make room for Egyptians? And I am curious... what is it that you particularly like about the Egyptians?

HI

Mine is a Canada Goose, but he has flown over to the cow pasture next door, and is staying with the wild Canada Geese that live there :( His name is Rain. He is a sweey guy, but I don't think he's as tame as all of your geese. He doesn't like anyone to touch him.
He loves my ducks. They are like his family (or was until he left!)

Everybody, will your geese let you pet them and hold them? My Muscovies will let me hold them, but my toher ducks won't.

I liked the Pilgrims, not as well as the Buffs tho; they just werent of the quality I like to keep and someone wanted them. My buffs actually have some Pilgrim genetics in the one line as I crossed the 2 breeds to widen the gene pool, they had been injudiciously bred for some time. I want the Egyptians because they interest me mostly I guess. They are quite different than barnyard types.I keep gold, silver, Amhersts pheasants and am kind of working into more "exotic" fowl types to include Woodies, MandARINS, ET CETERA. i USED TO KEEP fALLOW DEER, pEAFOWL AND OTHER BIRDS BEFOR GOING WITH STANDARD BRED BANTAMS. i CAN NO LONGER SHOW SO dont need so many domestics.

I agree, Fancifowl, that Pilgrims have had some inbreeding problems. I'm glad that my Willow is from totally different stock than my new Pilgrims, Elsie and Ben. I'm fortunate too in being in the same neighbourhood as Jason Cain, owner of Performance Poultry. He has Pilgrims too and we will likely swap some hatching eggs to broaden the gene pool.

All of Willow's goslings are big and vigourous, but all of Buff's are - to put it bluntly - smallish and STUPID. Two were taken by predators and the remaining two we call Clueless and Clueless Too. If you could see them try to go through a gate instead of going through the opening, you'd know why. Same sire - THAT GANDER! - so it must be something amiss with Buff's genes. She seems normal, but I won't incubate any more of her eggs. She'll be happy enough raising little Pilgrims.

LOL! Maggie, I can't help but chuckle when you mention "that gander"!

-Sheila

Well, Sheila, it's no laughing matter... Well, it IS, actually, now that he's long gone and unlamented. But THAT GANDER left bruises on my legs the size of a breakfast plate more than once. He was thoroughly NASTY and I hope to goodness my Pilgrim gander Ben doesn't end up the same way. At least Ben is smaller and would be easier to control.

BTW, Sheila, Ben and Elsie are named for my maternal grandparents who lived in this area. I never knew them, but my Mom's stories about them brought them alive for me. So my goosies' names are a kind of small tribute to them. Grandpa Ben would have laughed but I'm not so sure about Grandma Elsie...

so, if I was to maybe get some geese oneday what kind would you all tell me to get? I'd probably just want one kind.

I have had all but Africans and standard Tolouse; neither of which are good for beginners or a backyard flock; China are loud/noisy but look swanlike on the water and are easiy to locATE, the gray farm geese are getting harder to find and I find they can be somewhat temperamental? . I think the best choices are the Buffs or the Pilgrims. Commercial types might be best for the backyarder, and standards if you have a mind for more improved types. There are some other choices such as the Romans and Sebastapols & pomeranians which can be more pricey and more difficult to locate.

Genny, Pilgrims and Buffs are your best choices. I'd give the Pilgrims the edge for first geese because they are a bit smaller than Buffs and because you can tell at a glance which are male and which are female. The females look like my Willow, usually with a bit more white on the face, and the males are mainly white with a bit of grey towards the rump. The females have dark eyes, brown or grey-hazel and the males have blue eyes. These are the colours when they are grown, but you can tell even when they are tiny goslings if you know what you are looking for.

You need a good-sized yard with good grass and weeds like dandelions and clover in it for geese. Geese like to have other geese for company so it is a good idea to get 2-3, preferably only one male.

Geese are not exactly cuddly, although the goslings will usually let you handle them if they are being hand-raised. As they get older, they seem to be a touch more standoffish. Willow loves to be hand-fed dandelion leaves and she like to nibble my fingers but she does not like to be hugged or held. But geese are very individualistic, so what one likes another may not. "They say" that too much attention to ganders in particular may lead to them being aggressive during the breeding season.

OK, thanks a lot Maggie and fancifowl, if I get some I'll look into the Pilfrims for sure!

Another cool thing about Pilgrims, Buffs too, I believe, is that they're listed as "criticle" on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy bulletin (on the web). Since the survival chances of heritage breeds improves with each additional person who raises them, it's nice bonus to know you may be helping in some small way from selecting one or more of these breeds. Just a thought.

LF(RJ)

Those surveys arent too accurate actually. The reality being that there are plenty of the commercial types but stamdard bred geese may be much fewer in numbers. Mine are more commercial, thus the low price I had mentioned. A well bre Buff or Pilgm would run more like $5o per,more for breeders, more for show quality. Ever seen the prices on show standard type dewlap toulouse, ^^^$$. Weights of Pils are adult males @ 14 lbs., and Buff males @ 18 lbs., but in reality, they will mostly be lighter if of hatchery stock. The birds bred for show are many times well over standard weights.
They all can make good friends in the farmyard tho. I could have sold mine a few times but keep backing out! This time tho, they are gonna go.

You're right, Fancifowl, that "breeder" or "show" quality Pilgrims can be expensive. My young pair are from Holderreads, part of a larger shipment ordered by our local fancy breeds hatchery. By the time transportation costs were figured in (and I know that the owner of the local hatchery did not add much for his efforts) the pair of day-olds cost me CDN$75.

But they are great and yes, I can see a difference in quality between my Willow and the young ones. Willow is a tad short in the legs by comparison. But she is a lovely little goose and her offspring by THAT GANDER are all very healthy and vigorous. So I'm hoping that when bred to our breeder quality Pilgrim gander, she will produce some pretty nice Pilgrim gossies in the spring. It will be interesting to see if there is much difference between her goslings and those of the breeder quality female. The same gander will be the sire.

Thanks for the correction, Fancifowl, just sharing what weve learnedthough we HAVE noticed that the professional postulation made about our Africans is probably true. As we compare them to real Aftricans, its likely that ours have been intermixed with a lot of Brown Chinese. If my knowledge of the breeds history is correct, the African breed came from the Chinese anyway, so if the stock lines for barnyard flocks are blurred, it may be of no surprise. (perhaps a cross is heartier), and for we beginners, our back yard batch is fine... None the less, we cant help feeling a tad bit of disillusionment to learn that what we ordered from the hatchery isnt quite what we ended up with.

Were grateful to the breeders out there (like yourself) for their efforts to maintain a breed. Should we decide to order more, we will likely do so from Holderreads (or other reputable hatchery), just so we know for sure what were getting and can share their offspring with confidence (should the occasion ever one day arise). Having watched over the decades what backyard breeders have done to several dog breeds (with meager regulation from the AKC - dont get me started) its nice to know that there are those out there like yourself working to protect individual breed standards.