344 FARM ANIMALS 



food as ducklings. Then the boiled eggs are 

 omitted from the ration and they are given bread 

 soaked in skim milk, oat meal, boiled rice, onions 

 and grass. A grass run is quite necessary. Water 

 is strictly necessary to drink but not to bathe in 

 until at a slightly later age. If goslings are fattened 

 on a mixture of barley meal and corn meal soaked 

 in buttermilk they should be ready for market at 

 the age of twelve to fourteen weeks. 



As already indicated the general consensus of 

 opinion of those who have had the most experience 

 with geese is that the African geese should be given 

 preference in the production of fat goslings for 

 market since they grow faster than any of the other 

 breeds of geese. A large number of crosses have 

 been made between different geese, and some of 

 these crosses, as for example between the Toulouse 

 and African and the Toulouse and China, are even 

 more satisfactory in some respects than the parent 

 breeds. 



Geese, like ducks, are comparatively free from 

 serious diseases. The most dangerous trouble is 

 cholera and this occurs as a rule on the premises 

 of goose feeders who keep a large number of geese 

 in relatively close confinement. When cholera 

 breaks out on such farms it runs a rapid course 

 and the mortality is high. In general these troubles 

 may be avoided by feeding the geese in small pens 

 containing only a few birds in each pen. If the 

 disease should break out under such conditions 

 the affected pen may be readily removed far enough 

 away to prevent the spread of the disease. Good 

 sanitation is as necessary in successful raising of 

 geese as with other farm animals. 



