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Unlike the domesticated duck, which has only one type of wild ancestor in its ancestors, geese have two ancestors: the gray goose and the swan goose. Chinese selection has changed Sukhonos very much. It is impossible to confuse it with today's domestic geese. But a gray goose in a photograph without scale can easily be confused with a domestic breed.
Gray wild goose
At least ask for documents to prove that you are wild. In person the differences are clearly noticeable. The weight of the wild gray goose ranges from 2 to 4.5 kg. Due to its low weight, this bird flies very well, which causes envy among domestic geese, when flyers (crosses with a wild goose) do not hobble several hundred meters to the pond, but rise on the wing and fly to the pond in a few seconds.
Sukhonos
Sukhonos can no longer be confused with his domestic descendant. If the Chinese goose has a bump above its head, and the beak seems to be artificially attached to the skull cut off in a straight line, then the swan goose has a streamlined head shape, and the beak naturally continues the line of the forehead. The weight of this bird is almost the same as that of the gray wild goose: 2.8 - 4.5 kg.
There are suggestions that not only the swan goose and the gray goose, but also other representatives of geese took part in the formation of domestic geese.
White-fronted.
Bean man.
Lesser white-fronted piskulka.
Mountain.
There is even an assumption that the mute swan also took part in the process. But this is too much. Taking into account the free crossing of breeds of domestic geese with each other to produce fertile offspring, we will have to admit that either all geese plus the swan belong to the same species, and the differences are just phenotypic differences of subspecies; or the ancients mastered the techniques of genetic modification at the DNA level.
Geese may actually be a subspecies, since the same bean geese occupies a range in the north of all of Eurasia from Greenland to the Far East, overlapping with other geese.
But the swan is too much. If a goose had the opportunity to interbreed with a swan, there would be hybrids of swans and geese on farms, like mulardam – hybrids of mallard and Muscovy duck or hybrids guinea fowl and chicken. But so far only the Lindovsky (Gorky) breed is registered as a swan-goose hybrid. Apparently based on the letter “l” in the name.
It is most likely that the true ancestors of domestic geese were at most two wild species, which may indeed be subspecies.
Geese were domesticated more than 3 thousand years ago. If we recall the rapid spread of chickens from Southeast Asia to the west, we can assume that the goose followed a similar path.
Domestic breeds of geese with photos and descriptions
The main direction of selection when domesticating the goose was to increase body weight to obtain a large amount of tasty and almost free meat.
All breeds of geese today are divided into three groups:
- small;
- average;
- large.
Small breeds have a decorative function and are almost impossible to find.
Medium eggs with higher egg production also ceased to be in demand with the advent of portable home incubators and the breeding of industrial egg crosses in chickens. If previously goose eggs were valued when added to dough, today you can simply add more cheap chicken eggs. Therefore, egg-laying geese are also beginning to become a thing of the past, although it is the medium breeds of geese that are best suited for home breeding. Only meat breeds of geese remain.
One of the medium breeds of geese, which is often not bred today in purity, but is used for crossing with other heavier breeds, is the Chinese goose.
Colors of Chinese geese with photos
Chinese geese are medium-sized birds, one of the few breeds belonging to this group that are still widespread in Russia. There are two color options in this breed: white and brown, repeating the color of the wild swan.
Even the white stripe that separates the dry nose’s skull from its beak has been preserved.
The white Chinese goose most likely split from the brown goose after a gene mutation.
“Chinese” are distinguished by good egg production. Individual geese can lay up to 100 eggs per season, although egg numbers typically range from 45 to 70 eggs per season. When eggs are laid in the incubator, about 75% of the goslings are hatched. Goslings grow quickly, already at two months of age reaching a weight of 3 kg, with the weight of adults being 4 - 5 kg. Puberty in Chinese geese occurs at 9 months. Thus, goslings hatched in May will begin laying eggs in February of next year.
But on the territory of Russia, domestic large breeds of geese intended for raising for meat are more common. Many of these breeds were bred in Russia; some, for example, Toulouse, were imported from abroad.
Meat breeds of Russian geese with photos and descriptions
For meat production in Russia, the best breeds are considered to be the Kuban, Gorky (Lindovskaya), large gray, Rhine, Kuban and some other breeds.
Kuban breed
This is not the largest breed of meat geese. Therefore, today they are working with her to increase her body weight. The “Kubans” have two populations. The first was created by backcrossing the Lindov breed with a Chinese brown variety of goose. Birds of this population look very similar to Chinese ones.
They also have similar weight and egg production.
The second population is white in color and was bred by crossing white Lindovskiy with Emdenskiy, large gray and now scarce Vishtinese. Outwardly, it is simply a white variation of the brown Kuban goose with a light beak and paws.
The weight of a gander of the Kuban breed is 5 - 5.5 kg, a goose - 4.5 - 5 kg. Geese lay 75–90 eggs weighing 150 g per season.
With the spread of incubators, this is even a plus for them, as it allows them to obtain the maximum number of eggs per season. The hatchability of goslings in incubators is about 80%. By 2 months, goslings gain 3.5 kg of live weight.
Sexual maturity in this breed occurs at the 9th month of life.
Large gray breed
There are two types in the breed, which is due to the fairly large age of the breed, which began to be bred even before the Second World War.The breeding of the breed began in Ukraine, from where the goose population had to be evacuated to Tambov during the advance of German troops.
When creating the Ukrainian (Borkiv) type, Romny geese were crossed with Toulouse ganders. Further, the crossbreeds were bred “inside”, kept on pasture on pastures. Borkovsky geese are relatively late-ripening, but their egg production increases until the fifth year of life, after which it begins to decline.
To breed the steppe Tambov type of large gray goose, a similar crossing of the Romny and Toulouse breeds was carried out, followed by breeding “in itself”. The difference is that in Tambov geese were bred while being kept on waterless pastures. The goal was to develop a breed group adapted to low-water steppe regions.
Large gray ganders weigh 6-7 kg. When fattened for slaughter they can reach 9.5 kg. Geese 6 – 6.5 kg. Or 9 kg.
Therefore, you should not be happy if the weight of large gray geese in the farmstead exceeds 7 kg. It is difficult for a large bird to mate. The largest goslings from the brood should go to meat.
The egg production of large grays is relatively low, a maximum of 60 eggs if there were two laying cycles. With one cycle, from 35 to 45 eggs weighing 175 g. The hatchability of goslings is also not at its best: 60%.
But the advantage of this breed is its endurance and undemandingness to living conditions and the presence of reservoirs. Birds can fatten themselves up by grazing in meadows and picking up fallen grain in harvested grain fields.
Large gray geese are good hens.However, ganders also prove themselves to be good fathers of the family, giving the entire goose family a reputation as evil plucking creatures.
And without reputation and offspring, it won’t take long to lose.
The young animals gain weight well and by 9 weeks already weigh 4 kg. Often, goslings of this breed are force-fed to produce large, fatty livers.
But if the question is “which breed of geese is best to choose for breeding for meat,” then the best option would be to have two breeds: large gray and Gorky (Lindovskaya), fattening their offspring for meat.
It is better not to breed crosses between Lindovskaya and large gray, although they turn out to be larger than the parent forms. Due to some kind of incompatibility in genes, male crosses are often underdeveloped and are not able to have offspring. In addition, the fertilization rate of eggs in these crosses is also low, not least because of their high weight.
Flaws
If you need purebred and high-quality representatives of a large gray breed, then you should pay attention to the disadvantages that are unacceptable by the standard:
- too little weight;
- wallet;
- bump on the nose;
- narrow chest;
- the angle of deviation of the body from the horizontal line is too large;
- faded color of the beak and paws (may also be a sign of disease).
The second and third points indicate the non-purebred origin of the bird.
Gray and Italian geese:
Kholmogorskaya
Kholmogory are the largest representatives of meat breeds in Russia. Their weight can reach up to 12 kg, but only for those who were fattened for slaughter. The average weight of a Kholmogory gander is 8 kg, a goose is 6-7.
There are two lines of Kholmogorsk: Tula fighting geese “took part” in the creation of one; the second was bred by crossing gray and Chinese geese.
It is not advisable to leave birds that are too large for further breeding, since the egg-laying characteristics Kholmogory geese are already small: no more than 30 eggs per year. Usually 10 – 15, and for young people even less. There is a clear correlation between the size of a goose and the number of eggs it lays: the smaller the goose, the more eggs it can lay per season.
However, this is a standard situation for all birds: do you want eggs or meat?
If we consider the absolute yield of meat after slaughtering young animals, it may turn out that smaller geese are more profitable for breeding and obtaining meat than large ones.
Toulouse breed
Representatives of the Toulouse breed in the photo look like very massive birds, which the Toulouses are in fact. If the Kholmogory is the largest of the Russian breeds, then the Toulouse is recognized as the largest geese in the world. The normal weight of a gander of this breed is 7.5 – 10 kg. At the same time, the American Association indicates 11.6 kg as the standard weight of an adult gander. Young, that is, males up to a year old, should weigh, according to Americans, 9 kg. Larger and American toulouses. European version 6 – 8 kg, American 9, pullets 7.3 kg.
The Toulouse people were bred directly from the wild goose. The breed has been known since at least the 19th century. At least, it was at this time that there were documentary references to the breed.
Toulouse are divided into two main types, which in turn are divided into subtypes.
Toulouse of the heavy type is mostly a group of industrial breeding. The light type is bred in private farmsteads.
The heavy type is distinguished by the presence of folds on the abdomen and a purse-like dewlap under the beak. The egg production of this type is 20-35 eggs per season.It is most often bred to produce foie gras, since this type fattens well.
The light type, bred for meat on private farms, has no folds and the egg production of geese is slightly higher: 25-40 eggs per season.
However, the hatchability of goslings for both types leaves much to be desired. During hatchery breeding, 50-60% of goslings hatch, and during incubation, 60%. But in Toulouse geese the brooding instinct is poorly developed, and it is difficult to guess in which of them maternal feelings will suddenly awaken. Nevertheless, sometimes a Toulouse goose with a brood gets caught on camera.
In the relatively warm USA, the Toulouse is the leading breed in the “production” of Christmas geese. It is young birds that have not yet gained full weight that end up on the table.
The Toulouse breed is very demanding in terms of living conditions, does not tolerate cold well and is not very suitable for breeding in Russia with its cold climate. But some goose breeders believe that the advantages of the Toulouse outweigh their disadvantages and this breed can be bred in Russia if a warm poultry house is built in case of cold weather.
Warm poultry houses with a controlled microclimate can be built if there is an opportunity to engage in industrial breeding of geese. In a private economy, such costs will not be recouped. Here you have to be a goose fan, and not just a farmstead owner who wants to breed this bird.
Let's sum it up
On a private farm, it is better to breed domestic breeds that are better adapted to the Russian climate and can withstand even quite severe frosts. Moreover, in size and weight, Russian breeds are almost as good as foreign ones.
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