CHAPTER XXIII.
GEESE.
Geese require much the same management as ducks. They may be kept profitably where there is a rough pasture or common into which they may be turned, and the pasturage is not rendered bare by sheep, as is generally the case; but even when the pasturage is good, a supply of oats, barley, or other grain should be allowed every morning and evening. Where the pasturage is poor or bad, the old geese become thin and weak, and the young broods never thrive and often die unless fully fed at home. A goose-house for four should not be less than eight feet long by six feet wide and six or seven feet high, with a smooth floor of brick. A little clean straw should be spread over it every other day, after removing that previously used, and washing the floor. Each goose should have a compartment two feet and a half square for laying and sitting, as she will always lay where she deposited her first egg. The house must be well ventilated. All damp must be avoided. A pigsty makes a capital pen. Although a pond is an advantage, they do not require more than a large trough or tank to bathe in.
For breeding not more than four geese should be kept to one gander. Their breeding powers continue to more than twenty years old. It is often difficult to distinguish the sexes, no one sign being infallible except close examination. The goose lays early in a mild spring, or in an ordinary season, if fed high throughout the winter with corn, and on the commencement of the breeding season on boiled barley, malt, fresh grains, and fine pollard mixed up with ale, or other stimulants; by which two broods may be obtained in a year. The common goose lays from nine to seventeen eggs, usually about thirteen, and generally carries straws about previously to laying. Thirteen eggs are quite enough for the largest goose to sit on. They sit from thirty to thirty-five days. March or early April is the best period for hatching, and the geese should therefore begin to sit in February or early March; for goslings hatched at any time after April are difficult to rear. Food and water should be placed near to her, for she sits closely. She ought to leave her nest daily and take a bath in a neighbouring pond. The gander is very attentive, and sits by her, and is vigilant and daring in her defence. When her eggs are placed under a common hen they should be sprinkled with water daily or every other day, for the moisture of the goose's breast is beneficial to them. (See [page 50].) A turkey is an excellent mother for goslings.
She should be cooped for a few days on a dry grass-plot or meadow, with grain and water by her, of which the goslings will eat; and they should also be supplied with chopped cabbage or beet leaves, or other green food. They must have a dry bed under cover and be protected from rats. Their only dangers are heavy rains, damp floors, and vermin; and they require but little care for the first fortnight; while the old birds are singularly free from maladies of all kinds common to poultry. When a fortnight old they may be allowed to go abroad with their mother and frequent the pond. "It has been formerly recommended," says Mowbray, "to keep the newly-hatched gulls in house during a week, lest they get cramp from the damp earth; but we did not find this indoor confinement necessary; penning the goose and her brood between four hurdles upon a piece of dry grass well sheltered, putting them out late in the morning, or not at all in severe weather, and ever taking them in early in the evening. Sometimes we have pitched double the number of hurdles, for the convenience of two broods, there being no quarrels among this sociable and harmless part of the feathered race. We did not even find it necessary to interpose a parting hurdle, which, on occasion, may be always conveniently done. For the first range a convenient field containing water is to be preferred to an extensive common, over which the gulls or goslings are dragged by the goose, until they become cramped or tired, some of them squatting down and remaining behind at evening." All the hemlock or deadly nightshade within range should be destroyed. When the corn is garnered the young geese may be turned into the stubble which they will thoroughly glean, and many of them will be in fine condition by Michaelmas. Green geese are young geese fattened at about the age of four months, usually on oatmeal and peas, mixed with skim-milk or butter-milk, or upon oats or other grain, and are very delicate. In fattening geese for Christmas give oats mixed with water for the first fortnight, and afterwards barley-meal made into a crumbling porridge. They should be allowed to bathe for a few hours before being killed, for they are then plucked more easily and the feathers are in better condition. Their feathers, down, and quills are very valuable.
Geese are very destructive to all garden and farm crops, as well as young trees, and must therefore be carefully kept out of orchards and plantations. Their dung, though acrid and apt to injure at first, will, when it is mellowed, much enrich the ground.
The Toulouse or Grey Goose is very large, of uniform grey plumage, with long neck, having a kind of dewlap under the throat; the abdominal pouch very much developed, almost touching the ground; short legs; flat feet; short, broad tail; and very upright carriage, almost like a penguin. The Toulouse lays a large number of eggs, sometimes as many as thirty, and even more, but rarely wishes to sit, and is a very bad mother.
The Emden or pure White is very scarce. The bill is flesh-colour, and the legs and feet orange. They require a pond. The Toulouse, crossed with the large white or dark-coloured common breed, produces greater weight than either, and the objection to the former as indifferent sitters and mothers is avoided; but is not desirable for breeding stock, and must have a pond like the White.