MANAGEMENT OF BREEDING GEESE 



geese which can be kept or run to the acre depends 

 of course upon the nature of the land available for 

 the purpose. The better the pasture and therefore 

 the more green feed available thoughout the sum- 

 mer and fall, the more geese can be run. In gener- 

 al, the practice is to run from 4 to 25 geese to an 

 acre ; ten is a fair average under normal conditions. 



Water for Breeding Geese. While water to which 

 the geese can have access for swimming is not ab- 

 solutely essential for their well being, they like it 

 and it is well to provide water if possible especially 

 during the breeding season. It not only takes care 

 of the problem of supplsnng drinking water, but in 

 the opinion of many goose raisers, increases the fer- 

 tility of the eggs laid. A natural water supply such 

 as a stream or pond in the pasture is therefore de- 

 sirable, but if none is available an artificial pond or 

 tank can be furnished to good advantage. 



Distinguishing the Sex. It is difficult to distin- 

 guish the sex of geese. It is, of course, necessary to 

 know the sex so as to provide the proper number of 

 ganders and so as to know what birds to pen to- 

 gether in making a mating. Once the sex of a bird 

 is determined it is well for the novice to mark it by 

 means of a suitable leg band so that its sex can be 

 easily distinguished in the future. 



It is more difficult to distinguish the sex of young 

 than of old geese. The gander is generally slightly 

 larger and coarser than the goose, with a longer, 

 thicker neck and larger head. The gander also has 



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