MANAGEMENT OF GEESE 173 



LARGE FLOCKS OF GEESE ON FARMS 



The most important goose-growing district in the United 

 States is that part of Rhode Island where the colony system of 

 egg farming is used. This district is well adapted to goose grow- 

 ing. The winters are not severe, and the birds can have grass 

 almost the year round. The breeding geese are often kept in 

 pastures occupied by hens and cattle, but there are also many 

 small ponds and marshy places used exclusively for geese. The 

 absence of foxes makes it possible to keep them in fields a long 

 way from the farmhouses, and for this reason many spots are 

 used for geese which in other districts would be too exposed. 

 The large flocks of hens in this district give an abundance of 

 sitters to hatch the early goslings. As the person who looks 

 after the sitting hens and the young chickens on one of these 

 farms has to give the greater part of his time to that work for 

 several months in the spring, he can often use the remaining 

 time to best advantage by hatching and rearing a few hundred 

 goslings. So a large proportion of the farms which specialize 

 in eggs also specialize in geese. 



The numbers grown on a farm vary from 100 to 500, the 

 average being between 200 and 300. To produce this average 

 number, flocks of 15 or 20 geese and 4 or 5 ganders are kept. 

 A flock of this kind does not mate miscellaneously, as a similar 

 flock of ducks would. It is composed of as many families as 

 there are ganders, and if the pasture is large, these families 

 will remain separate a great deal of the time. 



The method of handling the geese on these farms differs from 

 the ordinary farm method in that the work is done more system- 

 atically and more attention is given to the goslings while growing. 

 They are grazed each year on new grassland. Most of them 

 are sold unfatted, as soon as they are of full size, to men who 

 make a business of fattening and dressing them. 



