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 2½ 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.