FATTENING AND MARKETING GEESE 



somewhat of specialists and where the effort is made 

 to turn out geese of superior quality. Third is fat- 

 tening in large flocks which is practiced only by a 

 very limited number of farmers in scattered sections 

 who take the unfattened geese raised on the general 

 farms and finish them for market. 



Pen Fattening. For this purpose the geese are put 

 in pens large enough to hold them comfortably but 

 without any yards. Not over 20 to 25 geese should 

 be penned together for this purpose. To get the best 

 results the geese should be kept as quiet as possible 

 and to accomplish this the pens are partly darkened 

 and the geese disturbed only at feeding time. The 

 geese are fed three times daily; in the morning, at 

 noon and at night, being given all they will clean up. 

 One feed should consist of a moist mash composed 

 of one part shorts and two parts com meal. This 

 mash should not be sloppy. The other two feeds con- 

 sist mainly of corn with some oats or barley. Some 

 roughage such as vegetables or hay should also be 

 supplied. The pens should be deeply bedded with 

 good oat straw. The geese will eat a considerable 

 amount of this which thus helps to supply the rough- 

 age which they need. The straw also, of course, 

 serves to keep the pen and the birds clean. A plenti- 

 ful supply of good drinking water is also necessary 

 The usual period of fattening is three to five weeks 

 and a gain of from 4 to 6 pounds per bird can be se- 

 cured. This method of fattening is commonly used 



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