Geese may also be steamed by scalding slightly in hot water and then wrapping tightly in burlap or some other cloth. They are kept wrapped for about five minutes which allows the steam to work thoroughly through the feathers which can then be plucked easily.
Exactly the same methods can and often are employed in dressing geese as are used with ducks. The reader is therefore also referred to the material in [Chapter VII].
There seems to be no great insistence on the part of most markets for dry picked geese. Some will pay slightly more for the dry picked birds but others make no difference.
Packing for Shipment. After picking, the geese are washed and then placed in cold water to cool. Ice water is best for this purpose and is essential in warm weather. The carcasses must be allowed to remain in the water until they are thoroughly cooled, which will take at least one to two hours. If any animal heat is left in the bodies, they will spoil very quickly. Often the carcasses are dipped in hot water, before being thrown in the cold water, to plump them. After they are thoroughly cooled, the geese are packed in barrels for shipping. If the weather is cool they may be packed in well ventilated barrels without ice, but if the weather is warm, cracked ice must be used in packing, proceeding in the same way as when packing ducks as described on page 109. It is always risky to pack without ice.
Saving the Feathers. Goose feathers are valuable and should therefore be saved when the geese are plucked. The soft body feathers and the coarser feathers should be kept separate. The feathers should be cured by spreading them out in a thin layer on the floor of a loft or room, stirring them up occasionally until they are thoroughly dried out, when they can be sacked and sold. Failure to dry the feathers thoroughly will result in their heating and molding with the result that they will arrive at their destination in bad shape and will be worth less money. The soft body feathers of geese are practically all used in making beds and pillows while the quills are sometimes utilized in making toothpicks and cigarette holders. Prices for goose feathers in June 1921 were as follows:
| Pure White | dry picked | 75c | per lb. |
| Good average white | " " | 65c | " " |
| Largely gray | " " | 55c | " " |
| Largely gray | scalded | 40c | " " |
| Long goose quills | 5c | " " |
These prices were for good dry feathers.
Plucking Live Geese for their Feathers
In the days of feather beds and home-made pillows the practice of plucking live geese for their feathers was very common. Now, however, with the demand for goose feathers less and with the opinion of some breeders that plucking geese is both cruel and injurious, the practice seems to be decreasing. Many goose raisers in the South and a less number in the Middle West and North however still pluck the feathers from the live geese prior to the time of moulting. The frequency with which the picking is done varies greatly, some picking as often as every six weeks during the spring, summer and early fall while others pick twice, once in the spring and once in the fall, or once in the spring only. Geese should never be picked during the late fall or winter when the weather is cold or during the breeding season. Both young and old geese are plucked and the average yearly production of feathers per goose is about one pound. When the quills of the feathers are dry and do not contain any blood, the feathers are ripe for picking. In plucking, a stocking is placed over the head of the goose and the goose held on the lap and between the legs during the process.
An assistant to hold the goose during the plucking simplifies the work greatly. In plucking, part of the soft feathers of the breast, sides, abdomen and back are taken but these sections should not be plucked clean. It is especially important that enough short feathers be left to support the wings.