438 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



Selection of Breeding Geese. — Geese should not be used 

 for breeding purposes until the second breeding season. 

 The ganders may be used the first season and for several 

 seasons thereafter. For best results not more than two 

 geese should be mated to one gander, though the number is 

 frequently increased to four. 



"Sex is difficult to distinguish in geese, especially when 

 they are young. The gander is usually somewhat larger and 

 coarser than the goose and has a shrill cry, while the female 

 has a coarse cry. The male has a heavier, longer neck and a 

 hirger head. The sex may be determined by inspecting the 

 sexual organs or l)y the action of the geese at mating time. 

 The sphincter muscle which closes the anus of the female is 

 folded and winding or sinuous if stretched, while a slight 

 I)ressure ou the corresponding section of the male will make 

 the sexual organ protrude. This test is more easily made 

 on a mature male and in warm weather."^ 



Live Plucking. — The live plucking of geese is not nearly 

 so common as formerly. It used to be quite common to 

 pluck the geese five times a year at intervals of seven weeks, 

 beginning the last week in March. Where it is practised 

 at all now it is generally confined to the period immediately 

 preceding the moult. They should not be plucked during 

 the breeding season. 



Incubation of Goose Eggs. — The first goslings should not 

 be hatched until the grass is green. Incubators have not 

 proved \'ery successful for the hatching of geese, and it is 

 Ijetter to allow the geese to set or place the eggs under hens. 

 Geese will cover nine or ten eggs successfully, while hens 

 of the American breeds should not be given over three or 

 four in cool weather and five or six in warm weather. The 

 length of time necessary for hatching varies from twent_y- 

 seven to thirty-three days, but will average about thirty 

 days. 



When they are about due to hatch, if hens are used the 

 nest should be carefully watched and the first goslings taken 

 out as soon as they hatch, wrapped in a woollen cloth, and kept 



^ LamftD and Lee, Faniiers Bulletin, 7ti7, U. -S. Dept. of Agric. 



