42 LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING SECOND SERIES. 



My own experience in growing goslings favors Mr. Pollard's methods rather than the others. 

 Feeding whole or cracked grain freely, even as part of the ration, I have found likely to put 

 gosliugs off their legs, and I have invariably brought them right up again by going promptly 

 back to a mash feed as soon as signs of this trouble appeared. If grain is sparsely scattered 

 the goslings take a good deal without injury, and after they are well grown will eat a good deal 

 of hard grain and grow very fat on it without showing any indications of weakness. 



In visiting the Rhode Island growers of gees^e, one may find great diversity in methods of 

 feeding as far as the use of foods supplementing the abundant pasturage given is concerned. I 

 have seen the goslings on one farm fed a stiff dough largely of corn meal, those on the next a 

 mixture of much the same consistency, but carrying less meal and more bran ; while perhaps at 

 the very next place visited the food would be more of the consistency usually given hogs to 

 drink; yet under all these different methods of feeding the results appeared to be equally good, 

 and from this I think it reasonable to conclude that with good pasture the kind and consistency 

 of grain food makes little difference. 



One point especially necessary to observe if the goslings are to be kept healthy Is to either 

 give pasture large enough to have clean grass in abundance, or move the geese often. A 

 favorite method with those who grow them in large numbers is to divide a small field into 

 three or four sections, and pasture one section at a time. 



flarketing Geese. 



For profit geese are sold at ten to twelve weeks old, at which ages they should weigh from 

 8 or 9 to 12 or 13 Ibs. If pushed right along they should be ready to market at ten weeks, 

 and at their best weight as green geese at that age. If intended for home consumption they 

 may be kept longer, and as most people want them to eat in winter it may be as well in grow- 

 ing for home use to feed sparingly of grain foods until near the time of killing, when grain may 

 be given freely to fatten. .. f 



Methods of killing, dressing, etc., for market are practically the same as for ducks. 



