WATERFOWL 253 



Each pair or trio should have a separate room or 

 small house with yard attached in which they should 

 be kept from the time they begin to mate till the 

 goslings are able to follow their parents without get- 

 ting tired out, when it will do to allow them free 

 range. The old geese will generally come to the 

 house at night for several weeks after the goslings 

 are hatched, and frequent the building during storms 

 as long as the goslings remain unfeathered, after 

 which they will stop outside night and day. 



For the reason that the three geese with their 

 goslings are liable to need shelter even after nearly 

 full grown, a pen eight by ten feet will be none too 

 large for each trio. A yard twenty by forty feet will 

 do during the breeding season, but if kept in a yard 

 of this size they must be supplied with green stuff. 

 That is the first thing the goslings want for feed, and 

 the sooner they are let out on free range the better. 

 As a rule each flock will keep separate during the 

 entire summer. An occasional fight between ganders 

 may take place. If a gander is very mean about 

 fighting, better shut him up than the whole family, 

 for it's the gander only that will fight. — [E. F. Barry. 



Geese are quite partial to thpir mates. One old 

 gander does not like to change his mate every year 

 and there is often trouble from a change. They will 

 not try to get out of a lot unless separated 

 from mates, when they will try very hard and often 

 succeed. A gander should never be kept longer than 

 three years, as young ganders insure greater fertility 

 in the eggs. On the contrary, a goose of three years 

 or over will lay more eggs and more fertile ones than 

 will a younger one. In gooje raising there is the 

 further advantage that a large number can run 

 together without proportionally decreasing the profits, 

 as with other fowls. For breeders, select large birds 



