Credits: Biovision-Infonet
The most important aspects of goose production are the management and feeding of the breeder flock as these can have a major impact on the reproductive rate, including the number of eggs produced, percent fertility, percent hatch, and subsequently the number of goslings produced per goose.
The total number of eggs laid per year by geese is very low compared with most other poultry species. Anser cygnoides geese generally have higher egg production than Anser anser geese. But for most breeds, the total number of eggs per year does not exceed 30-50, and sometimes less, even if the birds are under good management conditions.
Furthermore the laying period is highly seasonal which is why producers use artificial lighting programmes to prolong or change the natural laying period. The birds should also have a natural dark period of at least 6 hours to keep them in a natural way.
The selection of the males and females for the breeder flock is particularly important and is normally done 2-3 months before the birds begin to lay (link to sex determination).
For spring-hatched goslings in the northern hemisphere, under natural lighting, this means that the selection takes place in November or December. Egg production in the flock will begin the following February. The following guidelines will assist in the selection of birds for the breeder flock:
- the sex of each goose selected must be known;
- select one male for every four females;
- ensure that each goose selected is identified;
- select only geese with a sound body and conformation which will enable them to remain in the breeder flock for 4-5 years;
- cull all geese that have any defects such as crooked keelbones, bad legs, crooked toes, deformed beaks or deformed eyes.
In some cases, it may also be desirable to select geese for the breeder flock based on body weight and/or egg production. If body weight is being considered, then all females selected should have a body weight of at least the average female body weight for the flock and the males selected should be 10-20 percent heavier than the average male body weight for the flock.
If egg production is being considered, the individual mothers of the geese being selected for the breeder flock must be identified and the geese (males and females) selected should only come from mothers with a high egg production.
To do this means that the geese being considered for inclusion in breeder flocks can only come from flocks that are in their second or subsequent year of lay so that production records of the mothers will be available.
Sex determination
When selecting geese for breeding, the sex of each goose must be determined. With breeds such as the Pilgrim which are autosexing by feather colour (adult males are white and adult females are grey), this is simple.
For Chinese breeds of geese, the sexes are readily identifiable by the size of their knob, with those of mature males being larger, more prominent and associated with a larger head.
Most strains of Embden and some strains of White Italian can be sexed by down colour as goslings, since the males are lighter in colour than the females. After a few weeks of age, these sex differences in down colour disappear, so sex identification of individual goslings must be done at hatching.
Most other breeds of geese lack distinctive secondary sex characteristics and therefore to sex geese of these breeds it is necessary to examine their sex organs.
However, even though geese can be sexed by examination of their sex organs, either as gosling or as adults, it is recommended that they be sexed as goslings at hatching.
When this is done, a good system of identification is required (see Geese Identification) to ensure that individual geese can be identified throughout their life.
The sexing of goslings at hatching also allows for the disposal of surplus males, not required for breeding, at market age.
It is recommended that one male be kept for every three females to ensure there are enough males to make up breeder groups with a ratio of one male to four or five females.
Vent sexing of day old goslings is not difficult and a little practice will make the sexing of day-old goslings a fairly easy task. This process of exposing reproductive organs should take place under a strong light in order to better identify the sex organ.
If geese are to be sexed as adults, the recommended procedure is that each goose be caught, lifted by its neck and laid on its back, either on a table or over the operator’s bent knee, with the tail pointed away from the operator
The tail portion of the bird should be out over the edge of the table or over the operator’s knee so it can be bent downwards easily.
The operator then inserts his/her index finger (sometimes it helps to have a little Vaseline on it) into the cloaca about 1.0 to 1.5 cm and moves it around in a circular manner several times to enlarge and relax the sphincter muscle which closes the opening.
Next, pressure is applied both directly below and to the side of the vent in order to expose the sex organ. In some birds the male organ is somewhat difficult to unsheathe, particularly if the birds are either immature or not in semen production.
For this reason an inexperienced sexer can easily mistake a male for a female if, after slight pressure, the phallus is not exposed. Only the presence of a female genital eminence will positively identify a female.
Pre-laying period
After the breeders have been selected, they may be kept with other geese until about two months before the start of lay, when they should be moved to a separate flock.
Putting the breeders into a separate flock before the breeding season is important to achieve a high level of fertility. Sometimes, however, a breeder flock formed immediately before the laying period will produce a high number of goslings.
It seems that most problems occur in flocks used to produce crossbreed offspring, especially when the physical characteristics of the parents are very different eg. birds with white and grey plumage.
Setting up the breeder flock just before lay begins can result in fighting, a decrease in breeder performance and increased mortality. Such cases would justify establishing the flock two or three months before the beginning of lay.
In all cases it is necessary to check the behaviour of the birds carefully during the first few weeks that they are together as a flock. It must be remembered that although wild geese are naturally monogamous, with domestication the objective is to have promiscuous geese and thus a ratio of approximately one gander to four geese must be maintained to ensure a high level of fertility.
In forming a breeder flock the objective is to establish a social structure in the flock, so that all geese are mated regularly. Once a breeder flock has been established, they should stay together as a flock for their entire reproductive life.
If the number of geese permit, it is recommended that breeder flocks be made up of four sub-flocks with one sub-flock in each of their first, second, third and fourth year of lay (assuming they are kept for four years of lay). This will permit the replacement of 25 percent of the breeder flock each year.
This is also a good way to balance the total number of goslings produced each year, as geese are much more productive in the second and third years of their life.
Small village breeder flocks may consist of no more than one or two ganders and 4-10 geese. The standard recommendation for introducing new breeders is to establish a new flock to replace the old.
However, this may not be possible with small breeder flocks and instead new females can be introduced as the old ones die or are culled. In this case, it is important to identify the eggs from these newly introduced geese so that the fertility of their eggs can be tested to see whether the gander is mating with them.
When replacing ganders in an existing flock, it is necessary to change all ganders at the same time and to do this at least two months before the breeding season. If necessary, a flock of geese may be divided into two flocks with one flock staying with the old gander(s) and the other receiving the new gander(s).
The management of geese destined for breeder flocks is the same as that for market geese in intensive and extensive management systems, including the feeding management for the brooding and growing periods although sometimes geese for breeder flocks need a higher level of feed restriction to ensure that they do not put on excess fat during the growing period.
Natural incubation
It is possible, but probably not relevant under normal commercial farming conditions, to artificially inseminate geese and in this way produce fertile eggs. Natural incubation produces the best percentage of goslings hatched.
Most female geese, if given the opportunity, will become broody and sit on and hatch the clutch of eggs (generally 10-12) they have just laid. Using geese to hatch out their own goslings is expensive, since geese are not laying while they are sitting on the eggs.
Turkeys, hens and ducks may be used satisfactorily to hatch out goslings — best results will be obtained from Muscovy ducks (which are really geese). Goose eggs can be hatched artificially, but results are better if ducks are used.
- Eggs should be collected at least twice (preferably four times) daily, and, as geese lay most of their eggs in the morning, the bulk of the eggs will be collected in the morning.
- Eggs for incubation should be stored in a cool room at 15degC — an air-conditioned or refrigerated cabinet is ideal. Turn eggs daily. The longer the eggs are kept over 7 days, the poorer the hatching results.
- Select only uncracked eggs weighing at least 140 g and no more than 200 g. Clean those eggs that are dirty by lightly rubbing with steel wool and wiping with a clean damp cloth. Eggs will need to be handled and stored in this manner regardless of the method of incubation.
- Eggs can be disinfected by fumigating them immediately after collection.
- The actual period of incubation of goose eggs varies slightly with the breed. Some eggs from the lighter breeds may start pipping after 28 days, while eggs from the larger breeds may take 35 days. It may take up to 3 days for hatching to be completed.
If natural incubation should be used, the goose eggs should be set under a broody hen, duck, or turkey for incubating.
If it is known in advance that natural incubation will be used, sufficient broody birds must be identified in order to incubate all the expected goose eggs except for the last 10-12 eggs of the laying season which the goose can incubate. Normally a hen can incubate between 4-6 goose eggs, a duck 8-10 and a turkey 10-14.
The nest for the broody female should be clean and in a relatively dark area where she will not be disturbed. Food and water should be available. Eggs for incubation should be collected and stored as previously recommended.
The eggs can then be placed under the hen, the duck or the turkey when she is broody. It should be noted that because of the size of the eggs, some hens could have trouble turning them.
For this reason the eggs should be marked on one side nd if it is noted that the eggs are not being completely turned, they should be turned manually, to 180 degrees, two or three times a day in addition to the turning that the hen can achieve.
A broody bird may be able to care for newly hatched goslings for a few days. However, the recommendation is to remove them from the female at hatching and transfer them to the gosling brooding facility.
Brooding
Brooding is the management practice to which young poultry are subjected, in for geese, the first three weeks of life when artificially incubated.
The most important aspect of brooding is to provide extra heat so that there will be no temperature shock when the newly hatched goslings are moved from the incubator to the area where they will be brooded and grown.
To ensure that the temperature in the brooding area is stable, it is important that the heat sources be turned on at least 24 hours before the goslings arrive.
Success in raising geese depends to a large extent on the care and attention the young birds receive during the brooding period.
Frequent management checks to make sure that the goslings are comfortable and have enough feed and water is one of the surest ways of raising healthy goslings.
Almost any building can be used for brooding geese providing it is dry, clean and free of draughts and vermin.
It is important to remember that the colder the ambient temperature of the room or building where the goslings are being brooded, the more heat will be required from the localized brooder heat source to maintain the temperature where the birds are located.
Any brooder heat source that can be used for chickens can be used for goslings with the recommendation, depending on ambient temperature, that the number of goslings does not exceed one-third to half the number of chicks recommended by the manufacture.
Energy sources may include electricity, oil, coal, natural gas, propane or other organic fuel. Normally the areas where the brooder heat sources are located will have a protective guard placed around them to reduce draughts and to ensure that the goslings will not stray from the heat source.
This guard need only be in place for the first 2-3 days of the brooding period. A circular area is preferable for this purpose as it prevents the goslings from crowding into a corner.
In areas where electrical interruptions are frequent, an alternative energy source should be used for brooding, although goslings are resistant to temperature drops during the brooding period as long as they do not crowd and smother each other.
When goslings arrive, the temperature at bird level directly under the heat source should be 36-37degC which can be reduced to 32-33degC at the end of the first week and to 23-25degC by the end of the second week.
After the third week, no further additional heat source should be required unless the ambient temperature in the building is below 20degC.
The behaviour of the goslings will show whether they are comfortable. If they are too cold, they will be huddled together close to the heat source and if they are too warm they will be far away from the heat source.
The goose has the fastest initial growth rate of birds kept for meat production. This rapid growth rate, combined with the fact that they are susceptible to overcrowding, means that it is very important that geese have adequate space during the brooding period.
On average, maximum density per square metre should not exceed 14-20 birds during the first week, 7-14 birds during the second week and 4-5 birds during the third week.
Even during the brooding period when the goslings are two weeks of age, they can be let out to graze, provided the weather is warm and it is not raining.
This can reduce the building space requirements per gosling. Goslings should not be permitted out in heavy, cold rain until about five weeks of age, since before that they do not have sufficient feather cover to protect them.
Almost any material can be used as a source of bedding for goslings e.g. straw, wood shavings, rice hulls etc. provided the material is dry, highly absorbent and that it is not easily compacted.
These points are important for goslings as their droppings are moist and they tend to spill water onto the litter. It is recommended to place the water on wire mesh or slats on a frame to prevent spilled water from wetting the litter
In large flocks the watering space during the brooding period should be at least 2 cm per bird and this can be provided by either a circular drinker or a linear drinking trough.
Goslings require 1.5 cm of feeder space per bird which can be provided either with a double-sided linear feeder or with a circular feeder. For the first 24 hours after hatching, it is advisable to provide additional, more accessible feed to ensure that all goslings start to eat immediately. This feed can be put in egg trays which are placed on the litter in the brooding area for easy access.