POULTRY RAISING GEESE 3<J7 



more durable by covering with a prepared roofing paper. The front of the 

 shed can be closed with heavy cotton cloth curtains. The curtains may be 

 fastened on frames to be swung open like hinged doors, or swung up and 

 fastened with a hook. The main objection to the latter method is that when 

 the curtains are in a horizontal position they catch dust. This makes them 

 less sanitary and less able to admit air and light. These curtains may be 

 left open continually in fair weather and closed only during the night in 

 extremely cold weather or during storms that would beat through the open- 

 ings and make the floor damp and uncomfortable. 



Mating and Setting. 



Number of Geese to Gander. Mate from two to four geese with one 

 gander. 



Mating. The breeding stock should be at least two years old and well 

 matured. Geese live to a great age and frequently remain vigorous and lay a 

 fair number of fertile eggs when thirty years of age. Of course, the ganders are 

 not reliable after they are about eight years old. When convenient, it is a good 

 plan to seclude each mating a week or two just at the beginning of the breeding 

 season. The time will readily be determined by the actions and cries of the birds. 

 As soon as the birds are rightly mated they may be permitted to run together as 

 they will not mix nor mate over again. When a good mating is secured, it should 

 be continued for six or seven years ; i. e., as long as the -birds get results. Some 

 breeders prefer old birds to young ones' but we believe the characteristics of the 

 individual are more important than the age. 



The season for breeding begins about February, but some geese will begin 

 laying earlier, say in December, then stop, and begin once more in February. 

 No feed is necessary outside of what they pick up off the range until cold 

 weather destroys this source of food. Laying geese must not be allowed to get 

 too fat as it injures the fertility of the eggs. 



Setting. Geese rniake their own nests from the litter and straw on the 

 floor of their house. They will lay from ten to twenty eggs before they become 

 broody. Just as soon as a goose shows broodiness or an inclination to set, she 

 should be removed and placed in a small coop or dark box, and kept there for 

 two or three days with plenty of water to drink but no food. This will break 

 her up and she can be put back into the yards to begin another laying of eggs. 

 One should set the first and second laying of eggs under hens, giving four or five 

 eggs to a hen. When the goose has laid the second laying of eggs, she will have 

 to be confined and broken of her broodiness again, then she will lay a third lot. 

 She should be permitted to set on the third laying herself instead of putting them 

 under hens. 



Time for Incubation. Thirty days are required for the incubation of 

 goose eggs. 



Feeding Breeders. When there is a scarcity of food in the fall or when 

 the geese are laying, they should be fed. We give the following mixtures that 

 have proved very satisfactory : 



Equal parts, by measure, of corn meal, middlings and bran. To this add 5% 



